Serbia seeks Russia's help as wildfires rage across country

Serbia has turned to Russia for help in fighting wildfires because of a lack of available planes from the European Union, its interior ministry said.

A Russian Emergencies Ministry IL-76P firefighting plane landed in the southern city of Nis on Wednesday evening and was deployed on Thursday to tackle a wildfire in the Deliblatska Pescara natural protected reserve that has raged for weeks.

Serbia is not a member of the EU but has access to emergency EU help under the bloc's Civil Protection Mechanism. This summer, Belgrade sent a firefighting helicopter and emergency response team to help Spain combat wildfires under that mechanism, but wildfires across Europe have sapped EU 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 late on Wednesday.

The EU did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Russian planes are forbidden from flying over European airspace under sanctions imposed over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but humanitarian aid is exempt.

On its way to Serbia, the Russian plane crossed the airspace of EU and NATO member Bulgaria following a request from Belgrade, the BTA news agency reported, citing a statement by Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The plane's arrival is another sign of Serbia's balancing act between Russia, with which it has historical ties, and the EU, which it hopes to join. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Serbia this month, but Belgrade has not joined sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

"We came here to work. It is not the first time; we feel like at home here," pilot Andrei Vidlov told state RTS news on Wednesday after he landed the plane.

Serbian media said the aircraft was sent on instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a request for assistance by Serbia. Reuters could not immediately confirm this.

-Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic and Ivana Sekularac; Additional reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Timothy Heritage/Reuters