Skopje, 11 March 2026 (MIA) - Macedonian nationals stranded in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain, who have requested to be evacuated, will fly Wednesday from Riyadh on a charter flight arranged by the Government.

The flight taking off from Riyadh is expected to evacuate 153 passengers, including 96 from Qatar, 33 from Kuwait, 15 from Bahrain and 9 from Saudi Arabia.

"Since our country has no air transport agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the airplane is expected to land at the Pristina airport, after which transportation to Skopje will be organized for the passengers," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said. 

The organization of the flights and all accompanying costs are covered by the Government and the Foreign Ministry.

At a press conference on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski said a coordinated process for the evacuation of Macedonian nationals from several countries in the Middle East is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of the week. 

A Dubai flight carrying 150 passengers of which 125 Macedonian nationals, 11 nationals of Kosovo, 7 of Serbia, two of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania, as well as one national of Germany, Armenia, and Montenegro landed at the International Airport in Skopje on Tuesday. 

Around 200 Macedonian nationals remain in the United Arab Emirates. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, they initially registered for evacuation but are currently not prepared to leave the country. 

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

On March 5, six Macedonian nationals were evacuated from Israel with the government plane through Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. 

Photo: MIA archive