Skopje, 9 March 2026 (MIA) - Following the evacuation of 151 people from Dubai who arrived at Skopje Airport late Sunday, the next flight is expected to arrive on Tuesday with a similar passenger load. A third flight is planned for mid-week, but it is yet to be seen whether more Macedonian nationals from affected areas will seek to return, so that the potential for evacuation organized by the state can be fully tapped.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski said late Sunday that work is also underway to evacuate Macedonian citizens who are currently in Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. They will be taken to Saudi Arabia, and from there they are expected to board a flight to the country on Wednesday.

"The plane will probably have to land on the territory of Kosovo, but we will organize the transport from Pristina Airport to Skopje. We will inform you about all of this in due time. We evacuated from Israel everyone who requested evacuation, except for one citizen, who insisted that the evacuation be from the territory of Israel. We evacuated two groups through Egypt and that process was successfully completed. There is another citizen who is requesting assistance and we are looking for a way to evacuate them. Our lines remain open 24/7 for our citizens, at any time. We will do everything in the coming period to evacuate anyone who identifies the situation as unsafe. My goal as a Minister is that all our citizens from the affected areas who requested evacuation be in the country by the end of this week. The safety of citizens is key and most important, and we must not compromise here. Therefore, sometimes some processes may take longer and be more complex, but we must not allow any of our citizens to be put at risk," said Mucunski, who welcomed the passengers from Dubai on Sunday. 

The Minister appeals to Macedonian nationals who are currently in affected areas and have registered for evacuation, to let authorities know if they have decided not to be evacuated.

"A total of 14 citizens who said they would be on today's flight from Dubai to Skopje did not show up at the airport. We call on our citizens to inform us timely if they decide not to use this service, not to be evacuated. It is fortunate that we were prepared and that our Embassy was engaged with a waiting list, to fill those 14 places with citizens who were supposed to be on the flight on Tuesday. I ask and appeal for maximum responsibility because budget funds are being spent. When it comes to safety, our goal is for every flight to reach full capacity," Mucunski said.

He noted that the entire evacuation operation is provided at no cost to Macedonian nationals.

Sunday's organized charter flight from the United Arab Emirates brought 151 passengers, most of whom are Macedonian nationals, one is from Montenegro, one from Bosnia and Herzegovina, one from Serbia, two from Kosovo, and four have Dutch citizenship.

"We prioritize based on certain categories of citizens who need urgent evacuation the most. Over 600 Macedonian citizens in total are expected to be evacuated this week, although this number may change. This is the third time in the past year that we have had such a complex operation for us as an institution. The first time was after the tragedy in Kochani when injured citizens were taken for treatment out of the country, and then their return was organized. A few months ago, there were also clashes between Israel and Iran and repatriation was necessary. I believe that we are successfully and efficiently implementing this entire process, which is not at all naive. I'd like to point out that the engagement of our diplomatic and consular offices is crucial in the preparation of all these plans and protocols. For this particular flight, from Dubai, the work of our Ambassador to the UAE and his team was of great importance. Also, our Embassies in Israel, Cairo, Qatar and Turkey, which helped to evacuate one citizen from the territory of Iran, were fully engaged," Mucunski pointed out.

The citizens who arrived in Skopje from Dubai late Sunday were extremely happy and expressed deep gratitude to the Government for organizing the entire evacuation process.

"We were on a one-week stay in Dubai. The situation started the first day we arrived, it was quite safe, but unpleasant, especially when you are on a tourist visit, with small children. Excellent organization, excellent flight, thanks to the Government, the Ministry and the Embassy in Abu Dhabi, everything was well organized. There were alerts via text messages to our mobile phones while we were there, because remains of missiles and drones were falling, but generally it was safe although in such a situation you never know what can happen," one of the passengers said. 

Another passenger also said he was very happy to be home.

"We are happy to be home. Explosions were heard while we were in Dubai, alerts woke us up during the night, it was not a very pleasant situation. We did not hear an explosion nearby, nor did we see any injuries, but, nevertheless, it was not pleasant at all," the passenger said. 

The Minister, who greeted the passengers as they got off the plane, handed out roses to all women passengers on the ocassion of March 8 - International Women’s Day. 

Mucunski announced a press conference for Monday to share further details.  

Photo: MIA