Foreign ministry requests €700,000 from state for Middle East evacuation flights

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is requesting over €700,000 from the state to cover the cost of evacuation flights from the Middle East in the spring after the start of the war in Iran.

Eesti Ekspress newspaper reported that the total cost of flying 1,068 people back to Estonia between March 6 and 8 was €1,475,941.

Of this, €433,100 in ticket money was recovered and the European Union compensated Estonia from the Civil Protection Mechanism with €334,185.

The foreign ministry, which was in charge of organizing the evacuation flights, is now seeking €760,035 from the state's reserves to cover its expenses.

The rescue operation was the largest carried out by the Estonian Foreign Service since regaining independence in 1991.

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