(Reuters) -Flights carrying evacuees from Israel have arrived in Slovakia and the Czech Republic amid the war between Iran and Israel, authorities said on Tuesday, making these countries among the
Evacuation Flights from Israel Land in Slovakia and Czech Republic
(Reuters) -Flights carrying evacuees from Israel have arrived in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, authorities said on Tuesday, putting the two countries among the first to bring citizens home to flee the conflict between Iran and Israel.
Another Central European country, Poland, said on Tuesday that the evacuation of Poles from Israel was planned for Wednesday and Thursday.
Slovak authorities said the first evacuation flight with 73 people, including 25 Slovak tourists and five family members of Slovak diplomats working in Tel Aviv, had arrived in the capital Bratislava late on Monday.
Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said Slovakia had also helped bring citizens of other countries to Europe, including 15 Poles, mainly children, 14 Czechs, nine Austrians, two Slovenians and one citizen each of Estonia, Spain and Malaysia.
"Our partners are contacting us and we are preparing another flight on Tuesday, which should include citizens of the Slovak Republic, as well as citizens of the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Latvia, and France," Blanar said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Slovakia had helped evacuate seven Hungarians.
Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said that a flight with 66 people evacuated from Israel had landed near Prague.
Poland said on Monday that it was organising the evacuation of around 200 of its citizens from Israel via Jordan.
On Tuesday, the Polish foreign ministry said it planned to use two planes from Egypt and Jordan for the evacuation, the first of which would take off on Wednesday.
"The plane from Sharm el-Sheikh will take off first, the one from Amman will take off second, most likely on Thursday morning," said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Henryka Moscicka-Dendys.
"We want to service this connection with a military plane, because we see that there are not as many people willing to evacuate as it might seem."
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Jason Hovet, Krisztina Than, Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
