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“Now we have the confirmation of the 50 that are now on the air. We have confirmation that today there is an opportunity for another group to return safely to Lithuania, but we will confirm it later, ”the Lithuanian head of diplomacy told BNS on Tuesday.
He said he hoped that the second group of translators and their relatives would be able to move to Lithuania in the near future.
“I hope that in the near future, but as long as they do not get on the plane, we cannot confirm anything. So far, we’ve had cases where we waited at any time to take off the plane with people, but it just didn’t happen due to changes in circumstances at the airport, “said G. Landsbergis.
The Ministry of National Defense announced on Tuesday night that the first translators working with our country’s army in Afghanistan and their families, a total of 50 people, would return to Lithuania.
A plane of the Polish airlines that fly them should land at Vilnius airport on Wednesday night.
Landsbergis said these people were flying to Vilnius via Uzbekistan and Poland.
The evacuation operation for Afghan translators and their families began on Friday, with a team of ten Lithuanian soldiers and a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to Kabul to carry it out.
They gathered interpreters and their families for several days at the Kabul airport and arranged a flight to Lithuania with the Polish government.
According to the chancellor, this operation will continue.
“The special mission continues and will continue as long as possible to help the people. Until the last minute. And after that we can bring our people back safely,” said the Minister.
According to him, the situation at the Kabul airport is changing rapidly, the Taliban currently threatening to prevent people from entering the airport area.
“Now we only have the most recent information that the Taliban have threatened to stop admitting people to the airport. Those in the airport area will be able to evacuate. The information is changing rapidly and it is difficult to assess so far,” said G Landsbergis.
He also thanked Lithuanian national defense officials and diplomats for their efforts to transfer Afghans who had assisted the army to Lithuania.
A total of 115 translators had employment contracts with the Lithuanian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, some of which received Lithuanian state awards.
Last week, six citizens of this country were transferred to Lithuania from Afghanistan: an Afghan who worked as a driver at the European Union Representation in Kabul and his relatives.
Earlier, it was announced that some 100 translators who had assisted Lithuanian soldiers and their families were waiting to be deported to Lithuania, fearing that the Taliban might try to deal with them.
Control of Afghanistan in mid-August, with the departure of the last American troops, was taken over by the Taliban, who occupied the capital, Kabul. Since then, getting out of Afghanistan has become difficult.
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