Were thousands of Ukrainian nationals evacuated from Israel by the Romanian government amid the current crisis with Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the EU and the United States, while Romanian citizens were left behind?
It's a damning claim that has gone viral on social media in the Southeast European country of some 19 million people, fanned largely by a far-right party whose leader apparently twisted the words of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who had spoken of Romanian and other EU countries' help in repatriating thousands of Ukrainians from Israel.
And while Romania, also a member of NATO, has evacuated a few hundred Ukrainians from the risky region, it is not the thousands as claimed, nor at the expense of Romanian nationals. Bucharest has also not paid for accommodation of any Ukrainian evacuees in Romania, as has been falsely claimed as well.
Governments around the globe have been scrambling to evacuate their citizens since the deadly attack by Hamas on October 7 that has since escalated into a wider conflict between Israel and Hamas.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. Nearly 12,500 Palestinians have been wounded, and over 200 people in Israel taken hostage. People from the United States, Australia, Argentina, Cambodia, Canada, Nepal, Thailand, Russia, Britain, Ukraine, and France and elsewhere are confirmed to be among those killed in the violence.
Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Radu Filip told RFE/RL that it had provided administrative support processing Ukrainian nationals arriving in Romania from Israel.
Filip said no Romanian citizens inside Israel had formally requested government assistance to leave Israel, although 300 inside the Gaza Strip had.
"At the present time, the security situation in the Gaza Strip does not allow for their evacuation," Filip told RFE/RL.
Some 2,200 Romanians have left Israel since October 7, arriving back on commercial airlines with tickets paid out of their personal pocket, according to RFE/RL.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Romania told RFE/RL that 436 Ukrainian nationals had been evacuated from Israel to Romania -- both to Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca -- between October 14 and 17, including 99 children.
"Airfare and all additional transportation costs were paid by the passengers," the Ukrainian Embassy said in a statement, adding that the Romanian government had provided administrative assistance.
"We are grateful to the Romanian side for the full support and assistance offered to the evacuated citizens of Ukraine, especially during customs clearance and passport control and for the provision of medical assistance, if it was necessary," the embassy said.
Romania shares over 600 kilometers of border with Ukraine, including land and maritime boundaries. Along with a handful of other so-called frontline EU and NATO states, Romania is a key alternate export route for Ukrainian goods otherwise blockaded by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
The UNHCR said earlier this month that more than 85,000 Ukrainian refugees were present in Romania and 144,000 have been granted temporary protection, which, under EU regulations, gives them access to housing, health care, and the job market. But swelling populist and right-wing political forces, including some with pro-Moscow leanings, have regularly slammed Romania's participation in Western sanctions against Russia along with military and other support for Ukraine.
On October 17, George Simion, leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unification of Romania, which won a surprising 9 percent of the vote in 2020 parliamentary elections, claimed falsely that Romania had evacuated 3,000 Ukrainians from Israel but "no Romanians," in a social media post that went viral.
Simion, no stranger to making false and unsubstantiated claims, continued his disinformation campaign on the topic the next day, chiding Ciolacu from the rostrum in parliament.
"We hope they will bring the Romanians back from Israel and leave the Ukrainians for their own officials," barked the 37-year-old Simion.
While it's unclear what sparked the rant, Simion's remarks came after Ciolacu had spoken to Romania's Prima News on October 16, when he mentioned that almost 3,000 Ukrainians had been evacuated and that Romania had taken part in such efforts along with other EU states, stressing specifically that "Romania did not spend any money for this."
Simion was one of several far-right activists and leaders to give a rude greeting to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy when he visited Bucharest on October 10. Instead of a speech to lawmakers, which was canceled, Zelenskiy met individually with lawmakers, a turn of events that Simion welcomed with mock glee, saying that "with pain in our hearts, we announce that the brave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will not come to the Romanian parliament today."
