264 Luxembourg citizens remain in the Middle East

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said that there are 264 registered citizens of the Grand Duchy in the Middle East countries affected by the escalation following the American and Israeli strikes and Tehran's retaliatory actions. All of them are listed in the LamA (Lëtzebuerger am Ausland) system, an online platform for registering compatriots abroad.

According to the Foreign Ministry, 213 people are in the United Arab Emirates, 25 in Egypt, 13 in Saudi Arabia, nine in Israel and four in Jordan. There are no registered Luxembourg citizens in Iran, Kuwait or Bahrain. The minister described the situation as "very unstable" and urged his compatriots to stay in hotels, not to leave their places of residence and to register at guichet.lu/lama. According to him, the authorities have already contacted citizens in the region and provided them with safety recommendations.

The closure of airspace in a number of countries in the region remains a significant factor of uncertainty. Bettel noted that possible repatriations will be organised in coordination with other EU states once the situation becomes more predictable. European countries have used similar joint evacuation practices in crisis zones before, which allows for more efficient use of transport capabilities and diplomatic channels.

Luxair CEO Gilles Feith specified that there are approximately 500 passengers of various nationalities in the region. According to him, customer safety remains a priority, and passengers are being given the opportunity to change their bookings without any additional complications.