46 Romanians and 24 foreign citizens, repatriated from South Africa; landing in Bucharest - around 15.30

The special flight for the repatriation of Romanian citizens temporarily stranded in South Africa took off from Johannesburg at 3.54 (local time Romanian time), following the successful completion of all necessary procedures and formalities, the aircraft being expected to land in Bucharest around 15.30 (Romanian time), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

The list of passengers, drawn up as a result of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE)'s active efforts, through the Romanian Embassy in Pretoria, includes 70 people: 46 Romanian citizens (including the sports delegation of SCM Baia Mare), 18 European citizens (10 Bulgarian citizens, 4 Spanish citizens, 3 Polish citizens, 1 Hungarian citizen) and 6 third-country nationals (4 Georgian citizens, 1 Australian citizen, 1 New Zealand citizen - part of the group of athletes of the SCM Baia Mare with residence in Romania).

They were stranded in South Africa due to the appearance on the African continent of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which led to the cancellation of some flights.

"Another 7 Romanian citizens in Cape Town were unable to board the repatriation flight, either because they were unable to travel to Johannesburg in a timely manner or because they did not perform the necessary PCR tests on time. The representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Pretoria remain in contact with them and will continue their support efforts in order to identify, in the near future, other transport solutions to Romania," informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In order to compile the list of passengers and fulfill the necessary procedures and formalities related to the special flight, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Romanian Embassy in Pretoria and the Consulate General of Romania in Cape Town, maintained permanent contact with Romanian citizens, constantly informing them about the repatriation operation and maintained contact with the South African authorities to facilitate the coordination and establishment of all organizational details.

Romania's diplomatic mission in Pretoria was also in dialogue with the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa and the diplomatic missions of the other EU Member States accredited to South Africa and conveyed the readiness of the Romanian authorities to support transport to Europe of other citizens. Europeans that are temporarily stranded in this country, taking up and processing their requests.

The Consul of the Romanian Embassy in Pretoria went to Johannesburg Airport to provide Romanian citizens with staple foods and water and to support them in completing all specific formalities at the airport in order to board the Tarom flight.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to thank the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Transport for the very good collaboration in carrying out the aforementioned preparations. Through active participation, together with the other competent Romanian authorities, especially through the representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Pretoria, the MAE has concretely fulfilled, in this specific case, its function of ensuring the consular assistance and protection of the Romanian citizens abroad who are in difficult situations," reads the release.