289 Passengers Safely Evacuated from Riyadh

Today’s flights from Riyadh to Belgrade were successfully coordinated by State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Damjan Jović and the Ministry’s Secretary General Dušan Kozarev.

Both aircraft departed Riyadh for Belgrade at the same time and safely landed at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport with a total of 289 passengers on board, including eighteen infants.

The first delegation departed from the runway of Belgrade airport bound for Saudi Arabia, led by State Secretary Jović, who upon arrival in Riyadh stated that Serbian citizens from Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia would be evacuated today with two aircraft.

“The evacuation of our citizens from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar continued throughout the night via land routes across the border with Saudi Arabia. These procedures proceeded well, swiftly and efficiently thanks to the discussions that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marko Đurić, held in recent days with the foreign ministers of these countries, so there were no major difficulties,” Jović said.

According to him, officials from those countries extended their support so that all individuals could be transferred to Riyadh within a very short period of time and, later this evening, after a technical stop in Cairo, continue onward to Belgrade.

Just over an hour later, along the same route, to the same destination and with the same humanitarian mission, a delegation headed by Secretary General Kozarev departed as well. Speaking from Riyadh, he said that the repatriation of Serbian citizens, as well as citizens of neighbouring countries and the wider region, had been successfully continued.

“In addition to citizens of the Republic of Serbia, today, thanks above all to the great understanding of President Aleksandar Vučić—especially considering that the Republic of Serbia is under no constitutional or legal obligation to organize this type of activity—we are here for our citizens.

This is part of the policy of the President of the Republic, the Government, and what Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Đurić consistently reiterates,” Kozarev emphasized.

He also expressed gratitude to Air Serbia for engaging its capacities and noted that Serbia is not assisting only its own nationals, but also all those whom it is able to help in such circumstances.

“On board with us today are citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, the United Kingdom and Egypt. This is truly an international flight today, and we can be proud of our country, its leadership and the capacities we possess together with our national airline,” Kozarev stressed.

According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ensuring that everything proceeds according to plan so that everyone may safely return to their homes.