No Bulgarian Kidnapped in Gaza, Ambassador Says

Jerusalem, 18 October, 2023 (TPS) -- SOFIA (BTA)
Interviewed on bTV Wednesday morning, Bulgaria’s Ambassador in Tel Aviv Slavena Gergova denied a Wall Street Journal report that at least one Bulgarian woman is held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov also said earlier that this report has not been confirmed.

Gergova specified that the 199 people officially confirmed by the Israeli authorities as kidnapped do not include any Bulgarian nationals.

Replying to a question, she said that the Embassy is in constant touch with 30 Bulgarians in Gaza, but there are probably more there. An option is being explored jointly with Israel and Egypt to let those Bulgarians and their families cross into Egypt if the Rafah border checkpoint is reopened. “Another diplomatic mission is in contact with those Bulgarians, but the situation in Israel, too, is extremely grave,” the Ambassador explained.

She admitted that dozens of Bulgarian nationals continue to express their wish to go back home by a flight organized by the Bulgarian Government. Regrettably, they are reluctant to use scheduled flights to the nearest capitals in Europe. “The Bulgarian State is ready to send a plane if necessary. Until then, we advise the citizens who really want to leave Israel to take the available opportunities about which we publish information on a daily basis,” Gergova told bTV.