Romania's Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday, February 12, that it had raised the alert level for Ukraine and withdrew non-essential diplomatic personnel "in the context of the latest security developments in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea region," Digi24 reported.

Romanian citizens are strongly advised not to travel to this country, as "there are risk factors", and those already in Ukraine are asked to consider whether it is absolutely necessary to stay.

It is the second-highest alert level, after the maximum when citizens are advised to leave a particular country immediately.

According to the current alert level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "strongly recommends" Romanian citizens avoid travelling to Ukraine and pay special attention. The ministry recommends to the Romanian citizens on the territory of Ukraine to re-evaluate the need to remain on the territory of this state.

The European Union has also advised non-essential staff of its Kyiv office to leave Ukraine and work in telework, according to Cursdeguvernare.ro. Other states have already evacuated non-essential staff and their families.

"We are not evacuating. For the time being, non-essential staff have the option of teleworking abroad," Peter Stano, the spokesman of the head of the European diplomacy Josep Borrell, explained on Friday.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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