Forest fires have been raging for several weeks already in Montenegro. In especially dangerous areas, including the coastal tourist places, popular among Russians, began an evacuation of the population. The authorities of the country can not cope with the fire on their own, and assistance from partners (remember, Montenegro has recently become a member of NATO) comes, judging by the current state of affairs, very modest.
Great experience in counteracting natural disasters in the Balkans has the Russian Emergency Ministry, which has a Russian-Serbian humanitarian center in the south of Serbia. However, it can not help Montenegro “because of politicization of this issue and administrative obstacles,” explained the head of the center Vyacheslav Vlasenko.
“There are certain political moments with negative influences: for example, last year fires were in Bosnia and Croatia, the Ministry of Emergency Measures offered assistance, but those countries refused, saying they will cope with it on their own. And now, with fires in Bosnia, they want to use military helicopters and UN helicopters but still they did not apply for help yet”, Vlasenko said in a commentary to the Sputnik Serbia.
Montenegro turned to the EU for help. Previously, NATO confirmed that Podgorica has appealed to the Alliance.
In the meantime, the fire is being coming closer to the large cities. Today, urgent evacuation took place in the city of Tivat, as well as in Sutomore, a well-known resort place.