Serbia has not activated the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union to receive help in extinguishing the fires at Deliblato Sands, the European Commission confirmed to N1 Serbia.
The Russian plane “Ilyushin” arrived on August 20 and has engaged in firefighting operations in the nature reserve, where large fires have been raging for weeks.
The EC clarified that Serbia has not requested assistance through the EU mechanism, but has requested satellite images from the Copernicus program to help local firefighters.
The European Commission linked the presence of the Russian plane to Serbia’s general attitude towards Moscow, stressing that “relations with the Putin regime cannot be business as usual” because of the war in Ukraine.
The Ministry of the Interior of Serbia had previously stated that the Russian aircraft was engaged in extinguishing the fires, adding that the EU does not have fire-fighting aircraft of the capacity of “Ilyushin”.
According to the latest data, about 3,500 hectares of forest have been burned in Deliblato Sands, while so far there have been no injuries.
