Following the Security College on Monday 2 March, the European Commission mobilised the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre to help Member States evacuate their nationals from the Middle East, in coordination with the EU delegations in the countries of the region.
Germany has already confirmed the imminent dispatch of civilian aircraft to Saudi Arabia and Oman, where airspace remains open, to evacuate its 30,000 tourists stranded in the region, with priority given to the most vulnerable.
France has also declared its readiness to launch large-scale operations “as soon as the situation allows”. More than 400,000 French nationals are currently in countries affected by Iranian strikes. According to the French minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, “arrangements are already in place at local level to facilitate overland exits where possible”.
In Spain, the contingency plan for the evacuation of non-combatants has been activated and a transport aircraft is on standby at the Zaragoza base to intervene as soon as a ‘humanitarian corridor’ opens up.
For its part, Belgium has activated a contingency plan for the 14,000 Belgians living in Israel and is coordinating closely with its European partners to pool transport capacity if the situation worsens. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)