During a ceremony held at the defence ministry location on Tuesday, March 8, the Minister of National Defence, Gabriel Oprea awarded the 'Crest of Honor of the Romanian Armed Forces' to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Teodor Baconschi, to the Secretary General of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Robert Marius Cazanciuc, to the Ambassador of Romania to Libya, Mr. Niculae Stan, as a token of respect and special merits. They had important contributions to the effort made for the evacuation of the Romanian and foreign citizens from Libya.

During the same ceremony, twenty officers and twenty-two NCOs and WOs, the aircrews of the military aircraft C-130 Hercules and C-27 J Spartan and the ground personnel, were awarded the 'Crest of Honor of the Romanian Armed Forces'; for the repatriation of citizens from Libya.

Minister Gabriel Oprea said: 'It is for the first time after WW2 that the Romanian Armed Forces have been involved in evacuating endangered citizens from a foreign country by air. We are proud to say that the mission has been successfully accomplished and the respective citizens are now safe. The success of this complex mission was possible through the cooperation and synchronized effort of the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other institutions with responsibilities in national security.'

The defence minister thanked the aircrews for the extraordinary efforts made during the missions that successfully evacuated 231 Romanian and 86 foreign citizens.

'Just like the Armed Forces that have always helped the people during humanitarian missions and interventions at home, the aircrews of the Romanian Air Force did their duty with devotion, loyalty and honor. Beyond the hardships of military life, today is a good day to speak of solidarity, courage and modesty. Romanian troops, whether in the theaters of operations, assisting flood stricken population at home or onboard airplanes, are a strong and beautiful example of solidarity' minister Gabriel Oprea added.

Between February 24 and March 4, the aircrews onboard of the aircraft under the command of Colonel (AF) Viorel Pana, namely Lieutenant-Colonels (AF) Adrian Takacs, Mihai Rosca, Marian Dinescu, Ion Staiculescu, Majors (AF) Bogdan Dogaru and Emil Tecuceanu, carried out seven evacuation missions, flying 29,217 kilometers in 76 flight hours.

MoND Press Office