In their pamphlets, Sweden, Finland, and Norway urge their inhabitants to ensure they can support themselves in the event of an emergency.
Even as Russia and Ukraine just marked a somber milestone—the 1,000th day of conflict—a number of European nations are warning their citizens to prepare for war. In their advisory, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark have urged their residents to ensure they can support themselves in the event of an emergency.
Finland developed a website collecting information on crisis preparedness, while Sweden began distributing millions of brochures on Monday with information on how to prepare for war, natural catastrophes, and cyber or terror attacks.
According to the Swedish booklet, “The level of military threat is rising. The worst-case situation, an armed attack on Sweden, is something we need to be ready for.
‘If Crisis Or War Comes’ is a 32-page booklet that includes advice on how to prepare non-perishable food and water, keep money on hand, and cultivate fruit and vegetables in gardens.
“We will not surrender even if another nation attacks Sweden. A passage in the brochure states, “All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.”
Since World War II, Sweden has published this updated version of a leaflet five times.
Russia, Ukraine, or any other nation is not specifically mentioned in the updated edition.
Both Swedish and English print copies of the booklet are available, and digital versions are available in Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian, Polish, Somali, and Finnish, among other languages.
According to Finland’s website, its officials are “well prepared for self-defence”.
The nation has remained more prepared despite sharing a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia.
The fence would be 10 feet high and topped with barbed wire following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Easy-to-cook foods are on both the Finnish and Swedish checklists. Additionally, Finland has requested that its inhabitants set up a backup power source.
In the meanwhile, in case of war or other dangers, Norway has asked its people to be ready to survive on their own for a week.
According to Tore Kamfjord, who oversees the self-preparedness campaign at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), “We have sent out 2.2 million paper copies, one for each household in Norway,” as reported by the BBC.
The list of things to keep at home includes tins of beans, energy bars, pasta, and medications, including iodine tablets in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Nordic neighbors Sweden and Finland broke decades of military non-alignment to join the US-led defense alliance NATO. One of the original members of the Western defensive alliance was Norway.
According to a BBC report, Denmark’s emergency management office sent out an email to its inhabitants with information on the food, water, and medication they would require for three days in the event of an emergency.
Days after the United States permitted Ukraine to launch long-range American-made missiles into Russian territory, Vladimir Putin relaxed Russia’s nuclear strike regulations on Tuesday.
Currently, 23 out of 32 NATO members—up from only three ten years ago—have committed to meeting the goal of allocating 2% of GDP to defense.
However, there is increasing agreement that Europe will need to take further steps to ensure its independence.
