Skopje, 14 October 2023 (MIA) – With the Tel Aviv - Skopje charter flight organized and paid for by the Government of North Macedonia on Friday, all remaining Macedonian nationals who requested help have been successfully evacuated from Israel, said the Government in a press release.

The financial expenses for the flight, said the Government, were covered with funds from the state budget.

“The free Tel Aviv - Skopje charter flight was realized in cooperation with Air Serbia, in a situation of cancelled flights and a completely blocked air traffic from and to Israel. Considering the ongoing events in several parts of Israel in the past week, previous attempts to secure a flight from Tel Aviv were unsuccessful since no company from the region was able to ensure a secure and safe flight and respond to the request of the Government of North Macedonia,” said the press release.

The Government noted that a solution was found upon the initiative of Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, and in direct communication with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić.

It added that Friday’s flight, apart from carrying the remaining 67 Macedonian nationals who requested aid, also carried seven Albanian, seven Montenegrin, and three Bulgarian nationals.

The Government said it is carefully monitoring the events in Israel through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in constant communication with the Macedonian Embassy in Tel Aviv.