Romania, one of the few countries with operational embassy in Damascus. Assistance provided to other citizens as well

More than 10,000 Romanian citizens are currently in the territory of Syria and Romania is among the few countries in the world that has an operational embassy in Damascus, announced the Director of the Consular Department with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Stanescu, tvr.ro informs.
“Today we have more than 10,000 Romanian citizens on the territory of the Syrian state. Since 2011, when the military conflict in Syria broke out, the Foreign Ministry has repatriated by own means about 700 Romanian citizens. Others, more important in terms of number according to our information, were able to repatriate on their own,” Stanescu said.
“Romania is among the few countries in the world that have an embassy still open in Damascus, an operational embassy. It is the only embassy of a Member State of the European Union who works there. Romania has taken over the protection and consular assistance to some countries with great capabilities – France, Australia, Canada and, of course, we protect and assist the Moldovan citizens,” the Foreign Ministry official said.
He recommended Romanians travelling to risk areas worldwide to announce their presence on the territory of the respective state to the diplomatic mission or to the consular office of Romania in that country.