At the moment, there is a group of about 50 Bulgarians who have requested to be evacuated from Israel due to the tension in the Middle East, but the list is constantly growing, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev told journalists in Plovdiv.
"It is not a compact group of people - they are in different settlements. Our main goal is for them to leave the territory of the country in the most normal and non-threatening way. We are constantly in touch with our compatriots, they must feel calm", Georgiev added. According to him, the speed with which the Bulgarians will be evacuated to Israel is not as important as their safety.
"Through our embassy in Tel Aviv, in wonderful synergy with all responsible institutions and services, we are monitoring the situation very carefully and closely. Very good, precise preparation and very good coordination are required in order to ensure an evacuation mission in the best and safest way," the minister added. The main thing is not speed, but safety, he emphasized.
"We are acting so that we can guarantee a safe route, as far as possible. These people have to leave a very dangerous zone, passing through another very dangerous zone, possibly going to a third - not much less dangerous zone," said the foreign minister.
He added that there is no danger for the employees of the Bulgarian embassy, who decided to stay on the ground, since every building in Israel has a bomb shelter.
Bulgaria is in constant contact with our embassies in Tel Aviv and Tehran and is informed about the situation on the ground, said Georg Georgiev.
Meanwhile, the group of 13 Bulgarian artists and writers who are in Tel Aviv, in connection with the opening of the tenth edition of the International Festival “Bulgarian Soul in the Holy Land“ shared with BTA that they are fine after the second night of rocket fire between Iran and Israel.
“We are fine, but the night was heavy. We spent several hours in the bomb shelter. Around 02:45 a.m. a rocket fell on a building nearby, the rumble was very loud and we were very scared“, said poet and chairwoman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers Anzhela Dimcheva.
Radio host Dimitrina Kyurkchieva added that “there was a direct hit on a multi-storey apartment block located just 2 km from the hotel“.
“The explosion was nightmarish and the shock wave knocked out the cover of the air duct in our bomb shelter. I thought they hit us“, Kyurkchieva also commented.
On June 14 (Saturday), Bulgaria's Ambassador to Israel Slavena Gergova met with the Bulgarian group and assured our compatriots that she is working towards their safe removal from the country at the earliest opportunity.
Due to the latest escalation of tension in the Middle East region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) recommends several communication channels for Bulgarian citizens in need of assistance. The ministry announced this on its website.
People can contact the “Situation Center” Directorate by phone: +359 2 948 24 04; +359 2 971 38 56; +359 893 339 616, by fax: +359 2 870 71 37 and by e-mail: crisis@mfa.bg.