Skopje, 15 April 2024 (MIA) - Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said only one Macedonian national requested evacuation from Israel in response to the Ministry’s call to nationals currently located in Israel and the broader Middle East region following Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday.

“Only one of our nationals has requested evacuation from the Embassy in Israel due to the situation. He was immediately issued an emergency travel document allowing him to leave the country. A company also called the Ministry’s SOS line in Skopje regarding four employees who are in Israel, asking us to take them into account in case the situation worsens and providing us with contact information to contact them for extraction,” Osmani said.

The Minister assessed that the situation in the Middle East is partially stable and called on Israel not to respond to Iran’s attack “in order to prevent a worsening of the situation and spiraling of the conflict.”

“Regarding the situation in the Middle East, today I held talks with most of the ambassadors in the region, including the ambassador to NATO and other partner countries. Currently the situation is partially stabilized. Schools in Israel have been opened, the war cabinet is yet to decide whether it will retaliate. I would like to use this opportunity to call on Israel not to make such a decision because it will only cause the conflict to spiral,” Osmani said.

There has been no evacuation request from Macedonian nationals in Iran. In terms of Macedonian students in Jordan who wanted to return to the country, the Minister said there is currently no pressure or requests for evacuation from other countries in the Middle East, “because the situation is in status quo.” 

“In any case we are ready to organize [evacuation] immediately. We have a 24hr line that responds to the calls of the citizens,” Osmani said.

The FM said the crisis HQ at the Ministry doesn’t have an accurate number of how many Macedonian nationals are currently in the surrounding countries. The only way to find out is if they register at the country’s embassies, he said.

“The only way for us to have information is for the citizens to contact the embassies and say we are here, include us in your plans in case the situation gets out of control. And even though the situation in Israel and the Middle East is stable today, I urge them to contact the Embassy, to be added to the lists and give their phone numbers. So that we are able to contact them if the situation worsens,” Osmani said.

Following Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry set up a crisis HQ with the primary task of extracting Macedonian nationals from Israel and the broader Middle East region if necessary. Besides the Tel Aviv-based embassy, Macedonian nationals can also turn to the embassies in Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

All nationals located in the region can contact the country’s Embassy in Tel Aviv (+972 549 267 378) and the MFA SOS lines (075 273 732 and 075 268 376) for the purpose of making preparations for a possible evacuation. The extraction will depend on developments in the coming hours and days, as well as the Tel Aviv airport, which has reopened, albeit with a reduced capacity. A land journey through Jordan is an alternative route.

Photo: MIA Archive