Four European Union countries – Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain – have decided to close their embassies in Ukraine temporarily.
As explained by these countries’ authorities, the decision to close the embassies for a temporary period was taken due to an increased risk of airstrikes throughout the territory of Ukraine, Schengen.News reports.
The embassies were initially planned to remain shut only on November 20. However, the authorities have just announced that they will remain closed to the public today, too, on November 21. If the situation is still considered dangerous, this closure might be extended to a longer period.
Through an official statement announcing the closure of the embassy, the Greek Embassy in Ukraine urged all its citizens to avoid commuting during these days and to stay in a safe space. The same authority further said that they had to make this decision for security reasons.
A similar statement was also made by the Italian Embassy in Ukraine. The Embassy said that in light of the information that there might be an airstrike, it has decided to remain closed temporarily.
The Italian Embassy further advised Italian citizens in Ukraine to go to the nearest shelter.
Portugal Said Its Embassy Will Remain Closed for a Few Days
Differently from the other three EU countries, which only announced that their embassies would shut temporarily without giving any additional information, the Portuguese Embassy in Ukraine said that it would remain closed for a few days, suggesting that it would not offer services at least until Monday.
Sharing the news, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Paulo Rangel, said that an assessment of the situation needs to be made before Portugal decides to open its embassy.
The same stressed that such temporary closures have taken place several times since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and that there is no place for concerns.
Spain also shared the same reasons as the other countries for the closure and urged everyone to be extremely careful.
Source: https://schengen.news/greece-italy-portugal-spain-temporarily-close-their-embassies-in-ukraine/
