Vietnam suggests Poland assist evacuation of Vietnamese from Ukraine

At the reception (Photo: VGP)

At the meeting, on behalf of the Vietnamese Government, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son thanked the Polish Government for supporting and facilitating the evacuation of nearly 2,000 Vietnamese people from Ukraine to Poland, and at the same time providing accommodation, medicine and essential necessities. The Minister emphasized that this noble and respectful gesture of the Government and people of Poland, along with the recent provision of 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, 8 tons of medical equipment and supplies valued at USD4 million for COVID-19 prevention and control, are vivid evidence of the traditional friendship and attachment between the two peoples of Vietnam and Poland throughout more than the past 70 years.

Noting that on March 9, Vietnam will conduct the first evacuation flight to bring home nearly 300 Vietnamese citizens and their families from Ukraine who are currently in Poland and will continue to arrange flights in the coming days, he suggested the Polish side support and provide temporary shelter for nearly 1,000 Vietnamese citizens who are continuing to come to Poland from Ukraine, as well as facilitate the arrangement of repatriation flights, including early issuance of flight permits and assistance with exit procedures; and consider allowing Vietnamese people who have long-term settlement in Ukraine to continue to stay in Poland until they can return to Ukraine when conditions permit.

The Vietnamese Foreign Minister handed over a letter to Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau requesting coordination and support in citizen protection for Vietnamese evacuated to Poland from Ukraine, and invited the Polish Foreign Minister to visit Vietnam soon to discuss measures to further promote the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Chargé d'affaires Maciej Duszynski of the Polish Embassy highly appreciated the efforts of the Vietnamese Government in the work of protecting Vietnamese citizens who are taking refuge in Poland, including quickly organizing the first flight to bring citizens home. He welcomed the presence of officials from the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland at the Poland-Ukraine border to direct citizen protection activities. He underscored that the Polish Government is giving favorable conditions for citizens from other countries, including those from Vietnam, to enter Poland from Ukraine. He also affirmed that his country will help with procedures related to the operation of flights to bring Vietnamese people home from Poland./.