1800 Belgians are still in Lebanon. Measures are in place to help those who want to leave, with commercial and European flights available. A military flight will be considered if necessary.
1,800 Belgians are still in Lebanon today as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies. What should the Belgians still there hope for? “We have been considering all possible scenarios for months“, said Hadja Lahbib, Minister of Foreign Affairs. “We are at the first stage, that is to say assisting the 1,800 Belgians who are in Lebanon. We have identified around a hundred of them who want to leave and we are in the process of assisting them to leave the country with agreements with the MEA company and also with other EU countries..”
The next step will be sending an army flight. But this is not yet the case at present. “The condition is the destruction of the civil airport“, said the minister. “This is not the case at the moment and only 90 Belgians want to leave at the moment. We will continue to make contact with the Belgians on site.“
What is the deadline for Belgians who want to leave? “It won’t be 10 days, it will be faster. As soon as seats become available on commercial flights or flights from other EU countries, we will notify them“, specifies Hadja Lahbib.
Hadja Lahbib Lebanon Israel
