FM Szijjártó: We have again completed a successful evacuation operation

Hungary has successfully concluded an evacuation operation with the help of its Slovak friends, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Saturday afternoon, adding that the details are being disclosed only now as that is the general rule for security reasons.

In a post on Facebook, Péter Szijjártó noted that the plane Slovakia dispatched to Lebanon as part of the operation left that country’s air space with nine Hungarian citizens and a Lebanese family member on board in the morning hours on Saturday.

“The plane landed first in Cyprus and in these moments is in Bratislava, so all of them are now safe,” he said, noting that in an operation earlier, at the beginning of August, several Hungarians wanting to leave Lebanon had been taken home with a plane of the Hungarian armed forces.

“With a view to the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, this time we again offered our help to all Hungarians staying in Lebanon, ten of whom registered themselves, so we and our Slovak friends have agreed that they would ensure seats to the Hungarians on their plane,” the foreign minister said.