Many European countries are advising their residents to prepare for war, while Russia and Ukraine recently marked a grim milestone – the 1,000th day of conflict. Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark have issued advice that asks citizens to ensure they protect themselves in the event of a crisis.
While Sweden began sending out millions of leaflets on Monday containing information on how to prepare for war, natural disasters and cyber or terrorist attacks, Finland launched a website to collect information on preparedness for various crises.
The Swedish pamphlet stated: “The level of military danger is increasing. We must prepare for the worst case – an armed attack on Sweden”.
The 32-page booklet “If Crisis or War Comes” includes tips such as stocking up on non-perishable food and water, keeping cash on hand, and growing fruits and vegetables in gardens.
One line in the booklet reads, “If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information about ceasing resistance is false.”
It is an updated version of a pamphlet that Sweden has issued five times since World War II.
The new version does not name Russia, Ukraine or any other country.
The brochure is available in print in both Swedish and English and digital versions are available in several other languages – including Arabic, Persian, Ukrainian, Polish, Somali and Finnish.
Finland’s website claims authorities are “well prepared for self-defense”.
The country shares a 1,340-km border with Russia and has maintained a high level of preparedness.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the country announced plans to build a 200-kilometre-long border fence with Russia – 10 feet high and topped with barbed wire – which is scheduled to be completed by 2026.
Both the Swedish and Finnish checklists include easy-to-cook meals. Finland has also asked its citizens to arrange for backup power supplies.
Meanwhile, Norway has urged its citizens to be prepared to fend for themselves for up to a week in the event of war and other threats.
“We have sent 2.2 million paper copies to every household in Norway,” Tore Kampfjord, responsible for the self-preparedness campaign at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Cans of beans, energy bars, pasta and medicines including iodine tablets in case of a nuclear accident are on the list of items to keep at home.
Nordic neighbors Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment to join the US-led defense alliance NATO in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Norway was a founding member of the Western Defensive Alliance.
According to a BBC report, Denmark’s emergency management agency emailed its citizens details about the water, food and medicine needed to deal with the crisis for three days.
Vladimir Putin on Tuesday relaxed Russia’s rules for nuclear strikes, days after the United States allowed Ukraine to fire long-range American-made missiles into Russian territory.
Twenty-three of the 32 NATO members – up from just three a decade ago – have now agreed to reach the target of spending two percent of GDP on defence.
However, the growing consensus is that Europe needs to do more to ensure that it can stand on its own.
