Many Belgians are still stranded in Ukraine. This is the case of Didier, 61 years old. The man had traveled to Ukraine to undergo dental surgery. He took refuge in a hotel located 20km from Kiev. He has been living there for a week.
“There was a specialist in Kiev so I made the decision to come despite the risk. It was said that the probability was low that there would be a new conflict and that it would break out so quickly. nobody believed it“, explains Didier.
About twenty people are in the hotel, including a Frenchman with whom Didier got on well. They have shelter, food and wifi. But the Belgian hopes to be able to return home as soon as possible. But the sexagenarian does not know how to leave the country.
“My family and my friends organized everything for my repatriation, but from Romania. But the problem is getting to Romania. Some tell me that the only way is to take a car, others say especially not the car, then I am told the train and then especially not the train“, he specifies.
In Wemmel, Brigitte, Didier’s sister, tries to organize his repatriation. “Via the embassy there is nothing to do. When we have them on the phone, they say to wait. The French embassy says that you have to refer to the Belgian embassy. We tried the Red Cross on the spot, they don’t know how to do anything. It’s really stress, anxiety“.
240 Belgians are still in Ukraine. The airspace is closed and the trains are taken over. The Belgian embassy asks its nationals to stay indoors, away from windows. If no shelter is found, then it is advisable to leave the country if people feel it is safe to do so. “We are in a war situation, we can’t predict anything at the moment“, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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