The Ministry of Foreign Affairs mobilized immediately and coordinated and took all the necessary actions, in order to contribute to the management of the situation that arose due to the fires in Rhodes diplomatic sources point out.

Thanks to the great mobilization of the state apparatus and the assistance to it and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was secured the orderly and safe removal of almost 19,000 people, many of whom are foreign nationals. It’s about her largest foreign national evacuation operation from the Greek territory.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Crisis Management Unit (MDF)

By order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Gerapetritis, the Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit was activated on Saturday, July 22. Since then, it has been operating continuously, on a 24-hour basis, with 3 communication lines (210-3681730, 1350, 1259).

To date, Service Followers have handled more than 2,500 calls from foreign nationals, who were offered assistance. Their requests mostly concern the facilitation of their communication with their Embassies, their movement to accommodation and the provision of information on how to leave Rhodes. MDC officials also answer questions about replacing lost travel documents and providing updates on the prevailing conditions in Rhodes.

The MDC of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has always been activated in crises related to the provision of aid to Greek citizens abroad. It is, however, as the diplomatic sources clarifytoday is the first time that the Ministry takes an active role in the management of a crisis involving foreign citizens in Greece. This decision was taken due to the enormous importance of carrying out in a safe manner an unprecedented operation to evacuate thousands of tourists, an operation directly intertwined with the image of Greek tourism, the heavy industry of our country and the international promotion of Greece. For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its announcements, the Social Media and the continuous information of Greek and foreign journalists, has ensured the immediate dissemination of information and the information of foreign citizens and media. At the same time, the communication with the foreign Embassies here is continuous in order to facilitate their contacts with the Greek Authorities.

Rhodes Help Desk

At the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Sunday July 23, under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it was decided to transfer a level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Rhodes and to operate a special office at the International Airport of Rhodes. From Sunday afternoon, a Help Desk for foreign nationals started operating in Terminal 1. With a view to offering assistance to foreign citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately contacted the airport administration, the Municipality, the Police, the airlines and the representatives of local bodies. At the same time, he facilitated the staff of foreign embassies (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.) in the installation and operation of corresponding offices in the same area of ​​the international terminal.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs degree in Civil Protection

In addition, an echelon of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was installed in Civil Protection. Embassy attachés undertook the drafting, formatting and translation of announcements and press releases, which were sent to international news agencies such as the BBC.

The echelon operated under the supervision of a diplomatic advisor at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Cultural Protection, who has been assisting, throughout the last period, the operations of receiving international aid to extinguish the fires.

Emotional contribution

It is worth noting, the diplomatic sources emphasize, the touching contribution of volunteers and the exceptional level of cooperation with the fire service, the Greek Police, the local authorities, the Municipality, the employees of the Rhodes airport, the Fraport company, the Aegean airline and the ground managers Swissport and Goldair who contributed to this difficult project of evacuating the foreign citizens.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, has visited the Crisis Management Unit and has expressed his thanks to the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to all the agencies involved for their immediate and coordinated mobilization in such unpredictable and difficult circumstances.