The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oana Toiu, emphasizes that the Romanian citizens in the conflict zone in the Middle East must have access to the same information and equal treatment regarding the steps taken by the Romanian authorities for their return to the country.
"I discussed the evacuation flight with the consul when the group was complete in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat. I did not request any changes to any of the previous allocation decisions, nor did I ask any questions involving the names and surnames of the passengers or the names and surnames of their parents. However, I asked something related to institutional responsibility, whether the field team managed to include everyone from the established criteria, whether they managed to call all the medical cases reported, and whether we still have knowledge of other groups of children. It was the consul who mentioned that, in addition to the official information provided up to that point, he also had the special case of an unaccompanied minor. My response was that, in any change he would make to the composition of the already established group or in any evacuation plan presented to anyone, he should first ensure that the others from the vulnerable categories with "All risk level citizens registered in consular care through formal channels have access to the same information and equal treatment," Oana Toiu wrote in a Facebook post.
She pointed out that it is necessary that the established rules and decisions previously communicated in official frameworks be respected, because "citizens' trust is vital in a crisis situation."
"The free evacuation flight has not changed, from the information I have, compared to the formal confirmations made by the consulate, and the unaccompanied minor has had safe repatriation options available since yesterday. Our priority remains to ensure equitable support and transparent access to information for the safe return of Romanians, both through efforts to increase the number of commercial flights, by prioritizing people according to their degree of vulnerability, and through equitable access to relevant information through formal channels," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, Oana Toiu specified that the Muscat-Otopeni flight that landed on Friday was fully occupied on the seats destined for Romania, so the information that there were no cases allocated to capacity for the seats allocated to Romania was false.
"Romanian citizens registered in advance in the databases announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the crisis and at the official email address of the consulate. On these channels, the request for assistance from parents for the unaccompanied minor could not be identified, nor the self-notification in the travel application regarding the presence in the respective space. We have no reports indicating, anywhere in the world, that a minor would have been taken off the transfers or flights organized by us or assisted by consular teams (The information that a minor was taken off the bus on the road or the plane at the airport is false information). Those who called me to report cases of Romanians stranded in the Middle East received from me, without exception, the answer to register through the official channels communicated by the Foreign Ministry and to follow up on the updated information", mentioned the chief Romanian diplomat.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs made these clarifications in the context in which various information was circulated in the public space regarding the situation of the minor daughter of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who is in Dubai and has not yet returned to the country.
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