Fresh snow in Serbia on Monday further complicated emergency operations against the extreme weather condition, as workers and soldiers struggled to reach an estimated 70,000 people stranded in remote and isolated snowbound villages throughout the country, Radio Television Serbia (RTS) reported.

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Monday, one day after the government announced a nationwide state of emergency, visited Sjenica, the hardest hit city by the prolonged snow and frigid temperatures. He pledged to allocate 10 tons of fuel and five snow removal machines for the municipality.

"An additional 3,000 people have been engaged in clearing roads throughout Serbia," Dacic said, "The Army gave us an additional 14,000 people and we expect to clear close to 6,000 kilometers of impassible local roads in Serbia."

With more snow expected, Dacic said the government would relieve some of the pressure on local communities overwhelmed by the extreme conditions. He said the Serbian government would bear all costs for the additional manpower and equipment.

"Given the weather forecast for the next few days, it is clear that municipalities cannot cope with such problems, and are therefore engaging the joint capacity of the state," said Dacic.

The situation is said to be particularly difficult in the mountainous regions of the municipalities of Prijepolje, Nova Varos, Ivanjica, Brus, Kursumlija, Medvedja, Vlasotince and Crna Trava, the swath of Serbian territory that extends from the Montenegrin border to Bulgaria where more than a meter of snow has fallen in many parts.

After five days of clearing, and with the assistance of the army, the roads are now passable to remote households in mountainous villages near Mali Zvornik on the River Drina.

According to the law defining a state of emergency, able-bodied citizens are required to assist state institutions in the performance of protection and rescue activities.

Specialized civil defense units can be mobilized and deployed by the military. The partial or complete evacuation of a population in a potentially high risk situation can also be ordered.