The Bulgarian embassy in Israel urged citzens not to travel there at least for the next ten days, until it is known how the war will develop. There is no new government flight planned for the evacuation of Bulgarian citizens, because there is no such need at the moment, Slavena Gergova, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the State of Israel, announced on the National Television.
“At the moment, there are two options for leaving Israel, both for Bulgarian citizens and for other foreign citizens. One is through Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. It continues to operate, albeit with a limited number of flights. There are companies that have stopped flying to and from Israel. There are also companies that have increased the number of their flights in order to enable on the one hand foreign citizens to leave Israel and on the other hand Israeli citizens who are abroad to return to the homeland. The second way to leave the country is from the port in Haifa. There is an operating ferry line there, which is in the direction of Haifa – Larnaca (Cyprus),” explained Gergova.
Ambassador Slavena Gergova warned that there is a lot of speculation about which Bulgarian citizens can evacuate.
“There is no division between citizens with dual citizenship and those with only Bulgarian citizenship. Bulgarian citizens are such for the Bulgarian state, regardless of whether they also have another citizenship. The way we try to prioritize citizens is based on whether they are short-term or long-term residents. The reason is that people who came for a shorter period have a limited budget, money for hotel nights and meals for example for a certain number of days, they only have medical insurance for a certain period. These people are a priority, they have nowhere to stay in Israel. The second group of people are the permanent residents of Israel. They have a home, a job, and their evacuation does not have the same urgency as the short-term residents,” she added.
Ambassador Slavena Gergova explained that no evacuation of permanent residents from any nation of the European Union has begun. However, she called on Bulgarians living long-term in Israel to register and send their data to the embassy in order to have a real idea of how many Bulgarians are in Israel.
“A person goes into an autopilot. We are extremely tired. The main challenge is the sirens. The Israeli system has an extremely well-made evacuation and shelter system in the bomb shelters. But you should not be at a distance that you cannot walk in a minute and a half to the bomb shelter. A problem we are facing is the shortage of products. A store is running out of essential goods. People are restocking and the large number of reservists who are on call also matters. Many services, including deliveries, have been suspended.”
Source: Novinite
