Kiev: Ambassador Jovanović on the situation in Ukraine
Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Kiev, Aca Jovanović, told Tanjug that there were currently about 300 Serbian citizens in Ukraine, of which about 100 were in Kiev, and that some of them had already left the country.
Ambassador Jovanović said that the Embassy in Kiev had immediately conveyed the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the citizens of Serbia in Ukraine to consider temporarily leaving the territory of that country. “We posted the recommendation on the Embassy's website within five minutes of receiving it, and in the morning, we informed all citizens with whom we were in contact or whom we knew personally by e-mail or text message about the situation. Citizens’ personal circumstances vary — some are in mixed marriages, some have families here... Everyone makes decisions depending on their situation," Ambassador Jovanović said.
According to the information of the Embassy, some of the Serbian citizens had left Ukraine with their children and went to Serbia before the recommendation had been released.
When it comes to air traffic in Ukraine, where tensions have been lasting for weeks, Ambassador Jovanović said that since yesterday, British insurance companies had practically banned the insurance of aircrafts flying to Ukraine, preventing a large number of planes from flying without insurance. He cited the example of SkyUp, a Ukrainian low-budget airline owned by an Irishman who banned his plane from landing in Kiev, which then had to land in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, from where passengers were transferred to Kiev.
“We do not know what will happen next. We have information that the Ukrainian government has made a decision to allocate funds to provide insurance for aircrafts, so that air traffic does not stop”, Ambassador Jovanović stated.
Speaking about the allegations of the Ukrainian media that one of the largest airlines in Ukraine was "moving" planes abroad at the request of the owners of those planes, including two to Belgrade, Ambassador Jovanović noted that the situation in the country was changing from hour to hour and that different information could be heard, some of which was contradictory. “We can neither deny nor confirm it. We will see how things will develop,” he said. “We expect the best scenario, but we need to be realistic and careful. We should not panic, but we should also not act irresponsibly”, he added.
Source: Tanjug