Russia will help Serbia fight forest fire
Serbia has asked Russia for help in fighting a forest fire that has raged for the past three days in a remote mountainous area on the border between Serbia and Bulgaria.
This was reported by the Associated Press, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Hundreds of firefighters in both countries tried to contain the flames on the Stara Planina mountain. Officials say efforts have been hampered by high winds and rugged terrain that is difficult to access. The Bulgarian army on Tuesday sent helicopters and heavy equipment to fight the fire, which first broke out on the Bulgarian side of the mountain. In Serbia, Emergencies Ministry official Predrag Maric says he expects the arrival of an Il-76 plane from Russia in the coming days,” the report said.
Since 2012, in the Serbian city of Nis there has been a Russian-Serbian center to ensure humanitarian response to emergency situations in Serbia and other countries of the Balkan region. US politicians and the pro-Western Serbian opposition regularly whip up hysteria around the Niš center, claiming it “violates the neutrality” of Serbia.
Today, the Center has a number of operations to provide assistance and eliminate emergency situations in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, and Slovenia.
The Center's rapid response capabilities were most fully demonstrated during the liquidation of the consequences of the devastating flood in Serbia and other countries of the Balkan region in May 2014. Russian rescuers were the first to come to the aid of Serbia. In two days, they evacuated over two thousand residents (including more than 600 children) from the flood zone in the city of Obrenovac, where the situation was most critical. As part of this operation, more than 140 tons of various humanitarian supplies were delivered to Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, by aviation from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
An important area of the Center’s activities is humanitarian demining. Since 2008, a joint Russian-Serbian detachment has been working to clear the territory of Serbia from explosive objects.
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