The EU has called for increased preparedness for war and natural disasters - FT
Kyiv • UNN
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Netherlands and 7 other EU countries have called for an urgent strengthening of civil preparedness for man-made and natural disasters. They insist on accelerating work on threat analysis.
The Netherlands and seven other EU countries have called on the bloc to urgently increase its civil preparedness for man-made and natural disasters following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a recent power outage in Spain, the Financial Times reports, writes UNN.
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Earlier this spring, the European Commission called on capitals to develop plans, including recommendations for citizens to stockpile food for three days, upgrade shelters and create cross-border crisis centers in the event of conflict or climate disasters.
The initiative came after European intelligence services warned that Russia could attack a member state within three to five years, exacerbating threats related to climate change, including floods and wildfires.
"We all know that the world around us is changing, that we are in a new geopolitical environment where the risk of crisis or even war is real," Dutch Justice Minister David van Wil told the Financial Times. - This requires a lot from us."
Van Wil and his counterparts from the Baltic States, Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg met in Brussels to discuss how to make their countries more resilient at a time when the EU is pouring huge sums of money into its defense sector to prepare for the possibility of a full-scale conflict.
He said the group of countries gathered in Brussels considered themselves "probably more advanced" on the issue than others who had shown less willingness to follow suit, partly out of fear of alarming their populations.
"Some countries have just installed sirens. Other countries reported that they stopped using their sirens 25 years ago. And so you can see that there are different approaches to these issues," van Wil said.
He argued that "if you are preparing for the worst-case scenario, i.e., a military conflict crisis, then local disasters are easier to survive."
Coordination between capitals on issues such as stockpiling, alarm systems or creating sufficient shelters is also necessary for an effective response, van Wil said.
The Netherlands is deploying "emergency support points" across the country where citizens in crisis situations, such as power outages, can get information, charge their phones or report missing persons. "I think these [support points] that we are developing now could become a model for other countries to learn from," he said.
The eight ministers called on the European Commission to speed up its work, including analyzing the threats facing the continent. "We want them to work on this joint threat assessment... If we are not on the same page about what threat we are facing, then what are we preparing for?" Van Wil said.
He noted that information sharing during crises is vital and called for strengthening the EU's so-called civil preparedness mechanism, which coordinates joint responses.
"We saw again, with the power outage in Spain and Portugal, that it takes a long time before we have a general picture of what happened. I think more pan-European coordination on this issue could help," Van Wil said.
Largest blackout in the history of Spain cost the country €400 million06.05.25, 16:08 • 5104 views
But in some countries, the EU's preparedness plans have also sparked panic and false claims that Europe is starting a war against Russia.
In Romania, viral online posts in recent months have claimed that preparations for food rationing and training for reservists in case they have to be called up are proof that Bucharest is joining the war effort.
The Romanian government issued statements in March and earlier this month refuting the claims and insisting that any preparedness plans "do not mean that our country is entering some [armed] conflict."