Finland, Sweden instructing their residents to prepare for war
- 18 November, 08:25
As the conflict is fuelling in Ukraine with Joe Biden loosening limits on Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles and North Korea’s deployment of troops in Russia, Nordic countries are telling their residents to prepare for a possible war.
Sweden is disturbing pamphlets instructing Swedes to prepare for a war, while Finland has a launched a new crisis preparedness website amid possible war with Russia.
Sweden on Monday started sending up to five million pamphlets to residents urging them to prepare for the possibility of war with Russia. The pamphlets "If Crisis or War Comes" sent by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB, contain instructions on how to stockpile food and water amid growing fears of a conflict with Russia.
"The security situation is serious and we all need to strengthen our resilience to face various crises and ultimately war," MSB director Mikael Frisell said in a statement. This was the fifth time Sweden issued such a pamphlet since World War II. Available in Swedish and English, Arabic, Farsi, Ukrainian, Polish, Somali and Finnish languages, the pamphlet’s 5.2 million copies will be sent to Swedish households. Since Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Stockholm has urged citizens to prepare for the war – both mentally and logistically due to proximity of the conflict.
Finland that shares a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, launched a website containing information on preparedness for crisis. Earlier, another Nordic country Norway distributed pamphlets instructing their citizens how to survive on their own in case of a war. Both Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership since 2022.
