European countries urge citizens to leave Lebanon amid rising tensions

Some European countries have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid traveling to the country amid rising regional tensions, reported Xinhua.

"In a highly volatile security context, we once again draw the attention of French nationals, particularly those passing through, to the fact that direct commercial flights with stopovers to France are still available, and we invite them to make their arrangements now to leave Lebanon as soon as possible," the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

Air France and Transavia France have decided to extend the suspension of their flights to Beirut until at least Thursday.

A spokesman for the German Foreign Office repeated an urgent call at the end of last month for all Germans to leave Lebanon. Since then, 500 people have registered on a crisis preparedness list, with a total of 1,800 Germans now listed.

In the Netherlands, the Foreign Ministry has issued a red travel alert for Lebanon, advising Dutch nationals to avoid travel to the country.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also advised Polish citizens against such traveling. Last Friday, Poland's flag carrier LOT announced it had canceled eight flights from Warsaw to Lebanon and Israel, as well as return flights.

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Monday called on Croatian citizens in Lebanon to leave, according to a statement on the social media platform X.

The Slovenian Foreign Ministry advised citizens in Lebanon to leave the country, too.

Norway and Sweden have also urged their citizens to leave Lebanon while Finland's current travel advisory for Lebanon urges avoiding all travel.