Foreign Affairs Ministry: Over 10,000 Romanians are in Syria at the moment
Over 10,000 Romanian citizens are currently in Syria, Romania being among the few countries in the world that still have embassies open in Damascus, according to Bogdan Stanescu, director of the Consular Department within the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE).
"Since 2011, when the military conflict in Syria began, MAE has repatriated about 700 Romanian citizens by its own means. From our information, a higher number of citizens managed to repatriate on their own," said Stanescu, cited by local Agerpres.
He pointed out that the situation in Syria was extremely dangerous because of the war there and recommended Romanians traveling to high-risk areas to announce their presence in those territories to Romania’s diplomatic missions or consular offices.
Russia started bombings in Syria to help their ally Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is under pressure both from Syrian rebels and the Islamic State (ISIS). The US has also been bombing ISIS positions in Syria.
The bad situation in Syria made residents run from their country to other safer places, including European countries. Romania also has to take in more than 4,000 refugees and, according to the Romanian President, the country can easily manage the refugee problem.
More than half of Romanians believe that Romania should not receive refugees.
Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com
