The efforts to put out the fire on the Greek Bulgarian border continue. Two aircraft sent by France under the EU civil protection mechanism will join the efforts in the coming two days, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said, and went on to thank the firefighters for their work in the past two weeks. The fire is 50 metres deep into Bulgarian territory, and has spread to terrain that is difficult of access. Bulgarian and Greek firefighters have been containing the fire front on either side of the border, said caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov.

• Bulgaria and Greece are working to extinguish the fire in Slavyanka Mountain

The efforts to extinguish the fire are hampered by the fact there is an old minefield on both sides of the border. “What needs to be done is for the two countries to sit down and make a decision when this minefield, which everyone is aware of, will be cleared once and for all. I myself cannot understand why no steps have been taken to date to clear it away,” the interior minister commented, as quoted by the BNR’s correspondent in Blagoevgrad Keti Trencheva