C-130 aircraft carrying 20 Greeks and 19 foreign nationals from Sudan back in Athens

"I want to congratulate the Ministry of National Defence as well as the leadership of the Armed Forces for the perfect organisation of this complex mission, always in conjunction with other friendly countries. We managed to bring back to Greece those of our fellow citizens who wanted to leave the war zone," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Thursday from the Elefsina air base, shortly after the arrival of the C-130 plane carrying 20 Greeks and 19 foreign nationals from Sudan.

"The Greek State must at all times take care of the safety of Greek citizens, regardless of where they are. And I hope that the great adventure in Sudan will end so that people can return safely to their homes. Our Armed Forces, once again, made us feel proud and took care of the implementation of this complex operation," added the prime minister.