State Officials Visit Fire-Affected Areas

PM Zoran Zaev and some of the ministers in the government interrupted their summer holidays abroad in order to control the situation with the forest fires around the country. On Sunday, PM Zaev came to the Delcevo region, where the situation with the forest fires is most critical. According to Zaev, the state’s system for dealing with crises, assisted by the teams deployed by EU member-states, managed to deal with the situation very good. “We are following the situation. Some of the fires are localised, but still remain active. We are constantly coordinating the state capacities and resources for dealing with the fires, and we hope the wind will not cause any more problems, because it still poses a risk since the fires are yet to be put out. We are here for our people. The citizens should not be worried, because the state will provide compensation for the damages done to their houses and other properties. In some of the municipalities our teams are already on terrain estimating the damages. We will also conduct great actions for replenishment of the forest funds lost in the fires,” Zaev said. President and Supreme Commander of the Army Stevo Pendarovski visited the village of Trabotiviste in Delcevo, where he met the soldiers who are intervening over the fires. “Information I acquired from the higher officers of the Army confirm that the situation on terrain is generally under control. I hope that the weather conditions in the following days will go into our favour and that the wind will no longer cause problems. We have 250 soldiers deployed in this area, and they shall remain here until the fires are completely put out,” Pendarovski said. Defence Minister Radmila Sekerinska visited the village of Krivi Dol, where the army stationed an improvised fuel storage, from where the army helicopters intervening over the fires were able to refill fuel. “In cooperation with the Municipality of Stip, we managed to establish this improvised heliport, so our helicopters do not have to return all the way to Skopje to refill fuel. Our soldiers also managed to secure army premises and ammunition storages so that they are not caught by the fires nearby. The battle against the fires continues, and our soldiers remain on terrain. I call upon all state capacities, as well as all citizens, to remain well coordinated in hope to eliminate all threats very soon,” Sekerinska said.