Key events
Stay in place, Ireland tells its citizens, as land evacuation routes not recommended
Meanwhile, the Irish European affairs and defence minister Thomas Byrne said that the advice for Irish people in the Gulf region remains to stay sheltered and not attempt to leave the area via land routes.
He said land routes are not recommended, “because of the sheer number of Irish people that are there,” RTÉ said.
“You may get to another country, but the question would be, would you be able to fly out of that country? So that’s not something that we can recommend, and that’s why the advice very clearly has to be to shelter in place,” he added.
Meeting of EU ministers in Cyprus delayed after last night’s drone incident
In the last few minutes, Cyprus has confirmed that a planned meeting of EU ministers in Lefkosia has been postponed after last night’s drone incident at the British military base RAF Akrotiri.
Czech Republic, Slovakia looking to run limited evacuation flights from Middle East
The Czech Republic is among the EU countries actively looking to take some of its citizens out of the region, with the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, confirming plans to run first flights in the coming hours.
Speaking to reporters after this morning’s security council meeting, Babiš confirmed plans for three evacuation flights, two from Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh and one from Amman in Jordan.
Foreign minister Petr Macinka said the first plane could take off from Prague “within the next two hours,” as it’s waiting for final clearances.
Czech airline Smartwings is also expected to run four flights to take their customers out from Moskat and Salalah in Oman, neighbouring with the United Arab Emirates, he said, which are expected to depart for Prague, Bratislava, and Warsaw, Babiš said.
As of Sunday morning, over 3,500 Czechs had registered for evacuation from the UAE, with another 900 in Oman, “hundreds” in Jordan and Israel, and about a hundred in Saudi Arabia, iDnes reported.
Neighbouring Slovakia is also working on an evacuation flight from Aqaba in Jordan, which is also expected to pick up some Czech tourists.
But the Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, warned on Sunday that further evacuation flights could be difficult to organise given airspace closures.
Morning opening: EU meets to consider its response as countries look at feasibility of evacuation plans
Jakub Krupa
A so-called “security college” of the European Commission is set to meet today as the European Union is considering its options given the escalating situation in the Middle East.
The bloc’s foreign ministers spoke at an online emergency meeting last night, with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warning later about the prospect of further escalation in the region. She also stressed the importance of keeping critical waterways, like the strait of Hormuz, open.
But several countries will also be drawing up their plans to evacuate some of their citizens out of the region, with hundreds of thousands believed to be stuck either in transit or on holidays in the broader affected area.
I will keep an eye on their plans, as we could see some countries team up and work together to take their citizens out of the area.
The life also does not stop across Europe and so I will bring you all the key updates from across the continent, including from Emmanuel Macron’s much-awaited speech on nuclear deterrence this afternoon.
For our main coverage of the Middle East, you can follow this blog:
It’s Monday, 2 March 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
