The head of the Emergency Management Department, Raed Arafat, reacted on Friday to the topic of the presidential aircraft being escorted in the Swiss airspace, noting that the Swiss Air Force planes flanked and briefly accompanied the plane carrying President Nicusor Dan ''as a gesture of gratitude for the support offered by Romania after the Crans-Montana tragedy.", informs Agerpres.
In a Facebook post, Arafat said that Romania helps without expecting gratitude, which is exactly why such a gesture on the part of Switzerland has ''a special significance and clearly shows that the efforts made are appreciated".
''The recording says it all. The planes of the Swiss Air Force flanked and briefly accompanied the aircraft carrying the President of Romania, as a gesture of gratitude for the support offered by Romania after the Crans-Montana tragedy. Romania helps without expecting gratitude, because that is normal. That is why such a gesture from a friendly country has a special meaning and clearly shows that the efforts made are appreciated. It's a shame that some try to minimize a gesture that, in reality, is a sign of respect for all those who were involved in this mission," Arafat wrote.
On Friday morning, the head of state released the recording of the conversation between the Romanian pilot of the Spartan presidential aircraft and the traffic controller in Zurich, in which the decision to escort the Romanian aircraft returning from Paris was communicated. "For your information, later on you will be intercepted by the Swiss (Air) Forces as a thank-you for your efforts at Crans-Montana," the traffic controller in Zurich is heard saying in the published recording.
In the aftermath of the Crans-Montana fire, a Romanian Air Force C-27J Spartan configured for medical missions had flown several severe burn patients from Lausanne to a hospital in Paris. The aircraft's mission was approved at the request of the Emergency Management Department, based on the international assistance request made by the authorities of the Swiss Confederation through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
The controversy related to the escort of President Nicusor Dan's aircraft over the Swiss territory ensued after journalist Patrick André de Hillerin published a response from Swiss Army spokesman Mathias Volken, who stated that the flight of the two F-18 Hornets near President Dan's Spartan was a routine mission of the Swiss aviation, and not a thank-you for Romania's assistance.
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