The Foreign Ministry is experiencing great demand from Norwegians abroad who want to return home. Over the past week they have received 1,000 inquiries a day from both travelers and relatives at home.
“Many Norwegians traveling now experience being in a difficult situation. Our employees work in shifts around the clock. Together with our colleagues abroad, we are doing everything we can to advise and assist,” says press spokesperson Siri Svendsen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to NTB.
The Foreign Ministry has no figures on how many Norwegians are abroad, but Svendsen says that the large demand is a good indication that this applies to many.
Collaborating with the airlines
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will, until 31 March, assist SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe in getting Norwegian citizens abroad safely home.
SAS and Norwegian have set up several extra flights from Spain and Morocco in recent weeks.
Travelers book and pay for the trip themselves. Svendsen encourages travelers to follow the airlines’ websites for information about departures.
“We try to find creative and good solutions where possible,” she says.
Demanding work
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also collaborating with Nordic countries and the EU to find solutions.
“There are many countries in the same situation, and we help each other as far as possible. But it is a demanding and complicated job that takes time,” she says.
She encourages travelers to register on reiseregistrering.no in order to get information from the Norwegian authorities, and so that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows how many Norwegians are in each country.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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