“A possibility is emerging for a broader opening of the airspace over the UAE. We are working so that the network of connections includes flights to Poland,” foreign ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewiór wrote on X on Wednesday evening.
Wewiór said the issue was discussed on Wednesday in talks between Deputy Foreign Minister Wojciech Zajączkowski and Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE foreign ministry’s minister of state for political affairs.
Earlier on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Prime Minister Donald Tusk had asked President Karol Nawrocki to approve the use of Polish armed forces aircraft for medical evacuation of Poles in the Middle East.
“The consular service identified 57 people from the UAE who could be brought to the country as early as tomorrow,” Sikorski said.
He said three flights from the UAE organized by travel agencies took place on Tuesday and that 10 flights were planned on Wednesday for Poles leaving the UAE and flying to Poland from two airports in Oman.
On Wednesday, Sports and Tourism Minister Jakub Rutnicki said two military aircraft were due to depart for Oman on Thursday morning to evacuate Poles needing assistance.
“The Polish Armed Forces are ready for these planes to start their flight to Oman in the morning,” Rutnicki told TVN24, adding that consular services were compiling information on people needing evacuation.
“These are people who, medically, simply need this evacuation. These are sick people, people who are running out of medicines,” he said.
“If everything goes well and there are conditions, above all for safe flight, landing and takeoff, I hope we will be receiving our Polish citizens tomorrow, probably at night, here in Warsaw,” Rutnicki said.
(jh)
Source: PAP