Serbia asks Russia for help fighting wildfires as EU aircraft run short

Serbia has asked Russia for assistance in fighting wildfires after the European Union ran short of available firefighting aircraft, the country’s Interior Ministry said, as reported by Reuters.

A Russian Emergencies Ministry IL-76P firefighting aircraft arrived in the southern city of Nis on the evening of August 19. On August 20, it was deployed to combat a wildfire that has been burning for weeks in the Deliblatska Pescara nature reserve.

Although Serbia is not an EU member, it can receive emergency assistance through the bloc’s Civil Protection Mechanism. This summer, Belgrade sent a firefighting helicopter and an emergency response team to Spain to help battle wildfires under the same mechanism. However, a wave of fires across Europe has placed significant pressure on the EU’s emergency resources.

“Considering that there are no firefighting aircraft of this capacity available within the EU...the arriving Russian aircraft will significantly strengthen our capacities in fighting the fires,” Luka Causic, head of the Interior Ministry’s Department for Emergency Situations, said.

Russian aircraft are banned from flying through European airspace under sanctions imposed following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, humanitarian assistance is exempt from those restrictions.

On its way to Serbia, the Russian aircraft flew through the airspace of Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member, following a request from Belgrade, the BTA news agency reported, citing a statement from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The arrival of the Russian firefighting aircraft is another indication of Serbia’s balancing act between Russia, with which it has longstanding historical ties, and the European Union, which Belgrade hopes to join.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Serbia earlier this month, but Belgrade has continued to refrain from joining Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

By Jeyhun Aghazada