Premium
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu welcomes the return to the country of the Romanian citizen Iulian Gherghut, kidnapped eight years ago in Burkina Faso, and thanks the institutions in Romania, as well as the external partners who made this possible.
"I welcome the return to Romania of the Romanian citizen kidnapped in Burkina Faso. This was possible through the constant effort of all the Romanian institutions with responsibilities in the field and with the support of our external partners. Thanks to everyone!," said Marcel Ciolacu, on Wednesday, in a message posted on Twitter.
Iulian Ghergut, kidnapped eight years ago in Burkina Faso, has been released and is currently in Romania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informed on Wednesday.
According to the MAE, bringing Ghergut back home is "the result of the work done by all the institutions within the interinstitutional crisis unit, which pulled all the political-diplomatic strings at their disposal for this."
Iulian Ghergut, who worked as a security guard with a manganese mine in Tambao, in the northern side of the African state Burkina Faso, was kidnapped in 2015 and was held hostage by the Islamic group Al-Mourabitoun, alongside other foreign citizens. The Romanian, originally from Traian village, Sambaoani rural town, Neamt county, was taken hostage on April 4, 2015, in an ambush on the off-road car he was patrolling in, according to AFP.
At the time of the kidnapping, an interinstitutional crisis unit was formed, which included employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Interior and the Presidential Administration.
