(20 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Suva Planina, Serbia – 17 July 2025
1. Various cows sitting on the ground
2. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Nikola Manojlovic, farmer from Mali Krcimir village:
++PARTLY OVERLAID WITH SHOT 1++
”It was a catastrophe. Animals did not have water since Saturday, for 3 days they were screaming. The cows were sitting around this area, some of them in a dried up pool.”
3. Horses on the mountain
4. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Nikola Manojlovic, farmer from Mali Krcimir village:
++PARTLY OVERLAID WITH SHOT 5++
”Usually the drought starts around mid August, but this year, since beginning of June we improvised a bit for a month. We tried to dig new wells but everything has dried up. We haven’t had any rain on the mountain since May 27.”
5. Various of cracked dried ground
6. Trucks with water arriving on top of the mountain
7. Various of farmers and workers filling up the pool with water
8. Various cows drinking water from the pool and tap
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bijeljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina – 18 July 2025
9. Various aerials of corn fields
10. SOUNDBITE (Bosnian) Mitar Savic, farmer from Suvo polje:
++OVERLAID WITH SHOT 9++
”We are trying to introduce these newer (corn) varieties. However, they can no longer withstand those high temperatures, which are over 40 degrees (Celsius).”
11. SOUNDBITE (Bosnian), Mitar Savic, farmer from Suvo polje:
++PARTLY OVERLAID WITH SHOT 9++
”I don’t know. I cannot tell you what the solution would be. Agriculture as such and if you were to engage in it… I don’t see any future.”
12. Aerial of corn fields ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
A severe drought this summer has left over a thousand cows and horses without water on a mountain in southeast Serbia, forcing the authorities to bring up emergency supplies.
The early drought that started in May has affected people, animals and crops throughout the Western Balkans, causing water and power restrictions, disruptions in river traffic and problems in agriculture in this part of southeast Europe.
At Suva Planina, Serbian for Dry Mountain, cattle owners said they can’t remember the springs ever drying up before mid-August.
Lack of water has sent the cattle roaming down the mountain in panic, they said.
“We haven’t had any rain on the mountain since May 27,” lamented Nikola Manojlovic, from the nearby village of Mali Krcimir.
Suva Planina is located about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.
The drought has left visible consequences on a plateau at the altitude of some 1,200 meters (nearly 4,000 feet) — cracked ground has replaced the main water spring, along with dry, yellow grass and dust.
”It was a catastrophe. Animals did not have water since Saturday, for 3 days they were screaming," said Manojlovic.
Alarmed, authorities drove up water trucks on Thursday, and workers used hoses to fill up a pond from the tanks for the thirsty animals.
The Ministry of Agriculture said it will keep sending supplies in the coming weeks.
While a spell of rainy weather in July brought some relief, farmers say that the land is too dry deep below the surface to recover easily.
Scores of small rivers, lakes and creeks that are normally used in Serbia’s rural areas have dried up.
In neighboring Bosnia, meteorologists have said that June this year could end up being the driest in recent history, causing huge damage in agriculture.
In eastern Croatia, authorities declared emergency measures in several municipalities along the border with Hungary to deal with the effects of the drought.
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