The Bulgarian government has called on the population to exercise extreme caution, and European aid has been activated in North Macedonia.
Major forest fires continue to rage in southern Bulgariawhere the government called on residents to exercise extreme caution.
The red alert remains in effect in the country, where temperatures have exceeded 35°C for several days, particularly in Sofia, the capital.
Visiting the Stara Zagora region, Bulgarian Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, however, was reassuring..
“The situation is currently under control. The State is ready to provide further assistance if necessary through the Commission for Recovery and Assistance”he said during a meeting with disaster-stricken residents and firefighters deployed in the region.
The Prime Minister added that The Czech Republic and Romania stood ready to provide assistance to Bulgaria if the situation worsened.
Situation still critical in North Macedonia
This Wednesday, 10 fires are still active in North Macedonia, the largest one ravaging an 800-hectare pine forest in the Stip and Negotino regionon Serta Mountain.
At the request of the country’s government, The European Union has activated its civil protection mechanism : Firefighting planes and helicopters have been deployed from Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
A state of emergency was declared in North Macedonia on Saturday and the government mobilized the police and army to fight forest fires.
The extreme temperatures that have been affecting the Balkans for more than ten days are expected to ease somewhat by the end of this week.according to forecasters.