site.btaSerbia Unable to Assist Neighbours Amid Critical Wildfire Situation

The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that because of the critical situation with the wildfires in Serbia, the country does not have the resources to respond to the requested assistance from the countries in the region, state broadcaster RTS reported.

The risk of fires in Serbia is still high, with the most endangered places in the vicinity of Nis, Vranje, Prijepolje, Mali Zvornik, Uzice and Krusevac. In Vranje, Southern Serbia, where a state of emergency has been declared, the situation has stabilized, no new fires have started and active ones are being extinguished, local media report.

Fires have been raging for a week in Pcinja District (Southern Serbia). Part of the forest, both state and private-owned, has burned.

"In three years, we have managed to reforest about 100,000 acacia and black pine saplings. This year, however, the fire has recurred, and all these young trees have been destroyed again, so we will have to start reforestation. In 95% of cases, forest fires are caused by human negligence," Nikola Novkovic, head of the Vranje Forestry, told RTS.