Foreign Ministry to Use Interior Ministry Aircraft for Repatriation Flights

Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) - The Foreign and European Affairs Ministry is planning to use the Interior Ministry's aircraft to repatriate more Slovaks stuck abroad, although they would have to pay for the transport, TASR learnt from ministry state secretary Martin Klus on Thursday. The ministry is pursuing a fair approach to all Slovak citizens, either at home or abroad, which is why the repatriated have to foot the bill themselves. Klus also added that the Interior Ministry's fleet will be despatched only if there are no schedule conflicts that would potentially disrupt supplies of medical items. "Due to the high numbers interested, it still holds true that we're asking our citizens to attempt to move towards the Slovak borders as closely as possible. To that end, we're continuously updating the states of individual border crossings," said Klus. He added that all individuals transported to Slovakia by the state must submit to mandatory quarantine at facilities determined by the ministry. A total of 1,546 Slovaks were repatriated home by March 25. More then 600 Slovaks managed to return home on their own, with help from embassies or consulates, which means that the total tally exceeds 2,000. Aside from Slovaks, the repatriation flights will see also the presence of Hungarian, Slovenian and Czech nationals aboard, as Slovaks are also reciprocally using repatriation flights of neighbouring countries and even Germany. "The importance of European solidarity can be seen here, as well," added Klus. mf/mcs/am