Tusk orders use of military aircraft to support evacuation of Poles from Middle East
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has decided to use military aircraft to support the evacuation of Polish citizens from the Middle East, adding that a request on the matter has already been submitted to the president.
Writing on the X platform on Wednesday, Tusk said the planes would "support the evacuation of Poles from the Middle East" back to the country amid the ongoing situation in the region.
Under Polish law, the president authorises the deployment of the armed forces abroad at the request of the government.
Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the Polish Armed Forces were ready to evacuate citizens requiring medical assistance in the Middle East, while other Poles would return using civilian transport.
Sports and Tourism Minister Jakub Rutnicki said that since Tuesday 574 Polish citizens had returned from the Middle East to Poland.
Speaking at a press conference with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas later on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that there are already plans in place to evacuate a number of Poles from the United Arab Emirates.
"The consular service has identified 57 people from the United Arab Emirates who could be brought back to the country as early as tomorrow," Sikorski said.
He added that three flights organised by travel agencies had departed from the UAE on Tuesday, while ten further flights were expected on Wednesday for Poles leaving the Emirates and travelling to Poland from two airports in Oman.
"The authorities of the United Arab Emirates themselves are organising a large operation. We hope that as many as possible of the flights departing from the Emirates will also go to our country, not only to Warsaw," Sikorski said.
The minister also said that the Polish consular service in Egypt had assisted 736 people so far and added that part of the evacuation from Jordan had taken place by sea.
"In total 800 Poles have been evacuated, including 300 over the last day, and in Jordan we no longer have any reports," he said, adding that the evacuation from Israel had largely been completed and involved about 500 people, with around 30 remaining.
President Karol Nawrocki announced at a press conference on Wednesday evening that he would support Tusk's request to use Polish Armed Forces aircraft to assist in the evacuation of Poles from the Persian Gulf region.
"I have been waiting for such a letter, and there is no doubt that I will support such a letter or such a motion," said Nawrocki.
"I am glad that the prime minister has finally sent his consent for the use of Polish aircraft from the Polish Armed Forces to help Poles who remain in the Persian Gulf region," he added.
In recent years the Polish military has taken part in several evacuation operations. Following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel, military Hercules and CASA transport aircraft created an air corridor between Tel Aviv and the Greek island of Crete, from where Polish citizens were transported to Poland by civilian planes, evacuating more than 1,000 people.
Polish forces were also involved in the evacuation from Afghanistan in August 2021, when transport aircraft flew between Kabul and Navoiy in Uzbekistan, evacuating about 1,300 Poles and their Afghan collaborators. (PAP)
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