Budapest (dpa)
North Macedonia has been battling forest and bush fires for several days amid drought, high winds and temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius in the shade. On Wednesday, Romania joined an international team of firefighters by providing two aircraft, including one that dropped five-ton water bombs, said Stojance Angelov, head of the civil protection authority, the MKD news website reported.
He also said the motorway border crossing to Greece near Bogorodica had been closed for security reasons because a bush fire was raging on the Greek side of the frontier.
Angelov went on to say that operations are currently focused on the south-eastern region close to the Greek border.
The eastern half of the Balkan country has been particularly badly affected by several dozen brush fires. In addition to the helpers from Romania, firefighters from Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Croatia are helping to tackle the fires, mainly using helicopters.
In times of drought, a heatwave with hot and dry winds can contribute to fires becoming more intense and larger within a very short space of time.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the risk of forest fires is increasing as a result of global warming.