“A working group for organising the return home of Hungarian stranded abroad has been set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The Minister said he had held a video conference with his Italian, Croatian, Slovenian and Austrian colleagues during the course of the afternoon. He explained that the Italian Foreign Minister had reported on “alarming figures”, with the number of people infected by the virus in Italy now exceeding 28 thousand, in addition to which the situation is changing and worsening very quickly, in view of which he advised that we “under no circumstances underestimate the virus and the dangers posed by it”.

“Since this will be a challenge that remains with us in the long term, I am once again asking everyone who is abroad and would like to come home to do so at the earliest opportunity, or to indicate as soon as possible that they require assistance”, Mr. Szijjártó emphasised. “It isn’t worth speculating that they will return home in a week or two, because we must count on international travel restrictions lasting several months”, he stated.

The Minister said that a working grouped tasked with organising the return home of Hungarian citizens stranded abroad has been set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is being headed by State Secretary Péter Sztáray. “We are already in continuous consultation within a Central European framework with relation to how we would be able to bring home Hungarian groups, families and individuals who are spread out at far-away points all over the world”, he wrote.

He also mentioned that an agreement had been reached with Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic with relation to continuously coordinating requirements and sharing information if any of these countries send a charter flight to pick up stranded citizens. “We will be doing everything possible to enable all Hungarians who want to return home to do so as soon as possible”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

(MTI)