The Regional Cooperation Council, a Balkan wide organization which among other issues deals with the environment, estimates that each year about 5.000 people die in 19 Balkan cities from consequences of air pollution.

Majlinda Bregu from RCC warns that Skopje, Sarajevo and Belgrade are among the most polluted cities in the world. It is common that the list of 10 cities with worst air pollution in the world has up to six entrants from the Balkans during the winter, when wood and coal are used for heating.
Even as most Balkan citizens are aware of the problem, Bregu adds, the number of companies who take measures to reduce pollution is dropping and about a third of the citizens say that they are not ready to switch to using environmentally friendly products.