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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda emphasized that the military escalation in the Middle East must not divert the international community’s attention from Russia’s war against Ukraine, UATV English reports.
He wrote this on the social network X.
After a phone conversation with Estonian President Alar Karis, Nauseda stated that Europe must continue supporting Ukraine through political, economic, and military measures.
Among other issues, the presidents discussed the situation in the Middle East, the security of Lithuanian and Estonian citizens in the region, and their return home.
Nauseda and Karis agreed to maintain close coordination between Lithuanian and Estonian institutions in order to promptly provide consular assistance to their citizens stranded in the Middle East.
Earlier on Monday, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys stated that up to two thousand Lithuanian citizens are currently in the Middle East, and their safety may require measures in the near future.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry stated that around 30,000 Germans are stranded in the region, and the government currently sees no possibility of evacuating them.
It was also reported that the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office is developing an evacuation plan for 200,000 British citizens stranded in Middle Eastern countries during the military escalation in the region.
It also became known that the Czech Republic and Slovakia plan to organize a limited number of evacuation flights from the Middle East.
