“We live in uncertain times. Currently, armed conflicts are raging in our corner of the world. Terrorism, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns are used to weaken and influence us. » This is the start of a newsletter that the Swedish government is distributing this week to five million households. The guide is titled “In Crisis or War” and contains a strong warning on its first page: “Military threat levels are increasing. “We must prepare for the worst possible scenario: an armed attack on Sweden. »
Amid growing tensions with Russia, Sweden is not the only Nordic country reminding its population how to prepare in the event of a war scenario on its territory. In Finland, the recommendations that must be followed in the event of a state of emergency or attack have been compiled on a website published last Monday by the government, which reads: “Finland has always been prepared for worst possible threat, war.” Norway also distributed a bulletin listing a list of items citizens should have at home in the “worst case scenario in which acts of war could affect the country.” On the list, it is recommended to have candles, canned goods, medicines and iodine pills in case of a nuclear accident. For his part, in Denmark, last summer, the Minister of Defense called on the population to stockpile water and other survival items, so that citizens can be self-sufficient for at least three days.
These guides and recommendations distributed across the four Nordic countries cover all types of emergencies, from snowstorms to prolonged power outages, floods and pandemics, and do not only refer to war situations. They in no case cite a specific enemy either, but since the start of the war in Ukraine, which led first Finland and then Sweden to join NATO, the Nordic countries have feared the effects of a hybrid warfare that causes sabotage, cyberattacks and other threats. launched from Russia.
In Sweden, this is not the first time that the Civil Protection and Emergency Authority (MSB) has sent an information bulletin recalling the basic notions of self-protection. The last time was six years ago, but the series has its origins in the Cold War years, when the country followed a policy of international neutrality. However, unlike the guide distributed in 2018, this time a new message stands out: “If Sweden is attacked, we will never surrender. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin had already warned against this harsher tone in his warnings when he declared a month ago that, in a global context where security and threats to the Nordic country had changed, “the information that was” He had to give to Swedish homes and reflect these changes. At the beginning of the year, Bohlin had already pointed out for the first time that “there could be a war in Sweden”.
“These messages are a little wake-up call. It is also about psychological defense, because Sweden is not an island outside international politics,” explained Håkan Gunneriusson, professor of military sciences at Mittuniversitetet, in a recent interview on Swedish public television. The new 32-page bulletin, illustrated with drawings of war planes and families fleeing their homes, also provides information on how citizens can participate in the so-called “collective defense system.” It is recommended, for example, to join volunteer defense organizations, take first aid courses, donate blood or talk to neighbors about how to be better prepared. “If Sweden is attacked, we must all do our part to defend independence and our democracy. Resilience is built every day,” adds the information released by the government.
In Finland, due to its vast eastern border with Russia and its war experience against the Soviet Union, it has always maintained a high system of defense and citizen preparedness in case of emergency. “Preparedness is a civic skill in today’s global situation. When people know how to act in emergency situations, society’s resilience is better founded in times of crisis,” said Director General of Emergency Services Kimmo Kohvakka.
In the new online guide published this week by the government, a list of situations is listed, including epidemics, cybersecurity attacks, forest fires, interruptions of digital payment systems, acts of terrorism, power cuts water and many other threats. The guide is also available for download in PDF format and the recommendations to follow in each case can be read in Finnish, Swedish and English. Unlike Sweden, the guide is only available on the Internet and will not be distributed to homes, because “it would be too expensive and the printed version would be more difficult to update”, according to the ministry’s communications manager. of Education. Interior, Eriikka.
No alarm but ensures security
In Norway, the government began distributing 2.2 million copies of the crisis preparedness guide in early November. The head of the Directorate of Social Security and Civil Protection (DSB), Elisabeth Sørbøe Aarsæther, described the bulletin as a “shopping list”, which gives advice and guidelines for dealing with different possible scenarios. Faced with opinions that these guides could cause alarmism among the population, Aarsæther assured that “people should not be nervous, information ensures safety”.
Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, a professor at the University of Tromsø, believes that the distribution of leaflets aimed at better preparing the civilian population is justified. “The armed forces are responsible for the military defense of the country, but the threat landscape has changed significantly and now points towards non-military objectives, that is, within civil society, so citizens have an increasingly important role in security. of the State,” he explained in an article published in the newspaper Aftenposten.
The Danish Emergency Management Agency has not issued any type of recommendation or advice on crisis preparedness since the 1960s. It is for this reason that the announcement made this summer by the minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen asking citizens to “prepare to be able to manage a crisis for three days” had a great impact. In the recommendations that can be read on the emergency site, the authority asks to stock bottled water, canned goods and a battery-powered radio in each household to follow official information in the event of a power outage. Internet system or electricity. Rasmus Dahlberg, chief researcher at the Social Security Center of the Danish Defense Academy, assured in an interview with public radio DR that “there is a great and very legitimate desire among the Danish population to obtain information from authorities on emergency preparedness that is real, reasoned and balanced. In this way, we can contribute to making society more robust in the face of threats.”
