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Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a revised travel warning, saying travel to Israel should be avoided due to concerns about a wider war in the Middle East.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in Lebanon, but a spokesperson for the Finnish Embassy in Beirut told Finnish news agency STT on Saturday that embassy staff remain in the city. Although Sweden temporarily closed its embassy in Beirut on Saturday, no decision has been made to close the embassy.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias BillstromThe security situation in the region is of great concern and there is a risk of escalation. Swedish staff have been advised to relocate to Cyprus.
“The foreign ministry has instructed its staff to leave Beirut for Cyprus and the ministry is planning to temporarily relocate to its embassy,” Bilstrom told public broadcaster SR.
Billström said the ban was initially decided to be implemented in August, but it could be extended depending on the security situation. He urged all Swedes to leave the country, noting that it would become more difficult to get aid to Lebanon after the embassy staff relocated. This week, the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders have heightened tensions in the region during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Do not travel to Israel or Lebanon
On Friday, Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a revised travel warning, saying travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories should be avoided.
Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had urged Finns to avoid unnecessary travel to Israel and issued specific regional restrictions on travel within the country. Now, the travel restrictions apply to the whole of Israel.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the situation is extremely tense and there is a risk of terrorist attacks and isolated acts of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
At the end of July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon, noting that if the security situation deteriorated significantly, commercial flights could be suspended and leaving the country would become more difficult.
On Saturday, Britain and the United States urged their citizens to leave Lebanon, and France did the same on Sunday.
Finland has not yet advised its citizens to leave the country and, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is not ready to make such a decision yet.
The Embassy of Finland in Ankara, Turkey provides consular services in the region, which also includes Syria and Jordan, under the mandate of the Embassy of Finland in Beirut.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Elena Valtonen (NCP) said that Finland Preparing for repatriation The foreign minister declined to speculate on what circumstances might lead to the withdrawal of about 200 UNIFIL peacekeepers from Lebanon.
6.36pm: Update with latest announcements from the UK, US and Finnish foreign ministries.
August 4: Updated French bulletin.
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