President Reuven Rivlin has had telephone conversations in the last two days with President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal, President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, President Martín Vizcarra of Peru and President of Colombia Iván Duque Márquez, continuing his round of conversations with world leaders as part of the international cooperation to contain the coronavirus.
The president sent his warmest regards to the peoples of each country as they deal with the outbreak of the virus and heard about the measures taken in each country.
In his conversation with the Portuguese president, President Rivlin thanked him for the assistance given by his country in evacuating the Israeli tourists onboard the cruise liner off its coast, saying “friendship is tested in times of trouble, and we were able to draw on our strong relations with your help in the evacuation.” The President of Portugal thanked the president for calling and stressed that the countries should continue to work together to contain the disease as part of the international effort.
Speaking to the President of Colombia, the president thanked him for assisting Israeli tourists last week and expressed his willingness to share critical information and Israeli understanding in the field of innovation regarding the fight against coronavirus.
When talking to the President of Peru, President Rivlin said he was deeply appreciative of the extraordinary help given by all the authorities in helping bring more than 1,100 Israelis home in four special repatriation flights operated by El Al. President Vizcarra emphasized that he saw it as his duty and that it was the right thing to do, given the decision to close his country’s borders. In his conversation with the Honduran president, President Rivlin expressed his thanks for the assistance in ensuring the evacuation of Israeli tourists from the country.
So far, President Rivlin has spoken with the King of Spain and the presidents of Germany, Italy, Austria, Moldova, Czechia, Croatia, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Colombia, Peru and Honduras.