An EgyptAir plane. File photo/EgyptAir
Egyptian expats who submitted their names to the embassy will have to be present at the airport at 10pm tonight to finish the procedures for departure, the Egyptian embassy to Bucharest said in a statement.
The embassy tagged the location of the airport on Google Maps.
Egyptians who have not registered their names but still wish to depart tonight should quickly visit the embassy, the statement said.
Passengers on tonight’s plane will not be required to present a coronavirus vaccine certification or negative COVID-19 test results before departure, the embassy said, adding that Cairo International Airport will be in charge of the related procedures after arrival.
Since a Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday 24 February, Egypt has expatriated hundreds of citizens who crossed from Ukraine to Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary as per the Kyiv embassy directives.
The majority of Egyptians who were in Ukraine prior to the invasion have been evacuated to these four European countries, head of the Egyptian community in Ukraine Ali Farouk told media on Saturday, noting that the evacuation is still continuing.
However, Farouk said the exact number of Egyptians who left the country is “almost impossible” to determine as many had not informed the embassies before departing and had done so across several border crossings.
Prior to the Russian invasion, around 6,000 Egyptians lived in Ukraine, 3,000 of which were students studying at the country’s universities.
Over the past week, Egypt has repatriated 177 nationals from Poland, 175 students from Romania, and announced plans on Friday to repatriate 30 expats from Hungary, most of which are students.
Egypt will also send an aircraft in the coming days to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava to repatriate nationals who crossed the borders from Ukraine, the Egyptian embassy in Kyiv announced on Sunday.
Egyptians who are currently in Slovakia and wish to return onboard this flight but have so far not contacted the Egyptian embassy in Bratislava need to submit their information through the emergency number +421907697619, the embassy added.
The Egyptian Embassy in Kyiv also asked citizens who lost their passports to contact the same number.
Egyptian authorities will also send two daily flights to Hungary until Friday to repatriate citizens who crossed the border from Ukraine, Egypt’s embassy in Budapest has said.
Citizens escaping from Ukraine and willing to return to Egypt should contact the embassy on +36307083220 or +36303404811 and send a soft copy of their passports via WhatsApp on the same numbers, the embassy said.
Expats will also have to submit proof of coronavirus vaccination with a QR code or a negative PCR or antigen test results before travelling.
Furthermore, Egyptian citizens married to non-Egyptian women will be allowed to bring their spouses to Egypt with them after submitting marriage certificates and relevant travel document to the embassy and the airport, the embassy said.
The Russian invasion of Ukrainian territories has killed scores with the exact number of deaths still unclear and caused 1.3 million people to flee Ukraine, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Saturday.
Egypt has called for upholding dialogue and adopting diplomatic and political means to resolve the crisis.
Last week, Egypt joined 140 countries in voting for a UN resolution calling for a halt to the Russian invasion and an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from its western neighbour.
The non-binding resolution was passed through a rare emergency session of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
During the session, Egypt affirmed voting for the resolution given its firm belief in the rules of international law and the principles and goals of the Charter of the United Nations.
While Russia has drawn global condemnation and was slapped by Western sanctions due to the conflict, Egypt expressed rejection of “employing economic sanctions outside the framework of the mechanisms of the multilateral international system.”
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