At the end of his trip to Scandinavia, the Defense Minister visits Finland. The country is much further ahead than Germany when it comes to protecting its population.
After a visit to Scandinavia lasting several days, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) calls for greater protection for the civilian population in Germany. This must be addressed quickly, “because of course the protection of the population, civil protection, is always the downside of a military threat and defense capability,” said the SPD politician in Helsinki at a meeting with Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen.
The minister then visited the Merihaka civil defense facility in Helsinki, part of the elaborate bunker facilities for the population. In peacetime, Merihaka is used as a sports center. In total, Helsinki’s bunker facilities have space for 900,000 people, more than the city’s population. In contrast, Germany has never had bunkers for all residents and has sold the existing state-owned facilities since the end of the Cold War or even allowed them to fall into disrepair.
“Russia is a long-term threat”
Even during the Cold War, Germany only had bunker space for ten percent of the population, said Pistorius. The topic will be discussed in the federal cabinet. Pistorius said he was impressed by the Scandinavian approach to total defense and the high level of support in the countries for a defense that does not have a militaristic or alarmist tone.
“Russia is a long-term threat,” said Häkkänen, referring to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “And we see that they are getting more support from partners and allies. They are being supported by other totalitarian states.”
Finland was admitted to NATO in April last year. The country’s decision to join the alliance came under the impression of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and after Finland had placed great value on military freedom from alliances in previous decades. Finland has around 5.5 million inhabitants and a 1,340 kilometer long border with Russia.
On Thursday, Sweden was also admitted to NATO. The Baltic Sea is now completely surrounded by NATO states – with the exception of the coast of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad between Lithuania and Poland.
Source: Stern
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