The foreign ministry has contacted 165 Hungarian citizens living in Lebanon and offered them help to leave in the wake of a recent escalation of events in the Middle East.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said 18 Hungarian citizens and their family members are returning to Hungary in a joint operation with the defense ministry. The foreign minister said on Facebook that despite all the concerns raised in Europe, events in recent days had increased the risk of escalation in the Middle East conflict. “Beyond promoting peace at all international forums and trying to prevent an escalation of events, the government’s primary responsibility … is to guarantee the safety of Hungarian people,” he said. As part of this effort, 165 Hungarian citizens staying in Lebanon were contacted by phone or electronically in the past few days, he added. After receiving confirmation that they were all well, the ministry offered its help for their safest and fastest return to Hungary, provided by a Hungarian Army aircraft, he said. Eventually, 18 Hungarian citizens accepted the opportunity, including seven children, and direct relatives of these Hungarian families, he said. “It was unfortunately not the first such operation carried out in the region, and as it had been done before, we informed our allies about the Hungarian operation and told them that we could also help them with returning their citizens home,” he said. A Hungarian Army aircraft has recently left Lebanon’s airspace carrying 18 Hungarians and 11 foreigners, including five Czech, French and Slovak citizens.