L’Germany lists its bunkers and shelters. Switzerland, Sweden and Poland are renovating them. Faced with the risks of a generalized and potentially nuclear conflict against Russia, these European countries are counting and rehabilitating everything that could be used in any way to shelter the population. Germany has 579 bunkers, most of which date from World War II or the Cold War. Enough to accommodate 480,000 people out of a population of 83 million inhabitants. As of February 2022, the German state stopped the sale of its bunkers, 300 of which had already found buyers.
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For its part, Switzerland has 9.3 million protected places in nearly 370,000 shelters for around 8.7 million inhabitants. Since 1962, each inhabitant has the right to have a protected place underground, stipulates Swiss law.ALSO READ Should Putin's nuclear threats be taken seriously?
And France? “In 2017, France had barely a thousand shelters on its soil, most of them built in the 1980s. Six hundred of these structures were of a military nature and around 400 others were private civilian shelters,” pointed out in February 2023 Senator Olivier Paccaud (LR) during a written question. A rate of protection against nuclear risk “barely greater than 0%”, was alarmed by the elected representative of Oise.
“Since 1964, nuclear deterrence has permanently protected France from any threat of state-origin aggression against its vital interests, whatever its form,” replied the then Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne. This is based on the Strategic Air Forces (FAS), the Nuclear Naval Air Force (FANU) and nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
French nuclear deterrent
“Fundamentally, then, nuclear deterrence aims to prevent war. This concept and the constant investment made by France for more than sixty years in its nuclear forces to make it perfectly credible distinguish us from our European partners, some of whom, as the question mentions, have based part of their defense on construction of fallout shelters. »
A response which sounded like an end of inadmissibility, but which also did not give the number of operational shelters in France, nor their distribution across the territory. Should we then be worried and build bunkers and shelters all over France? “This is of no use in the event of a global nuclear attack,” judges Stéphane Audrand. Metropolitan France does not have strategic depth like the United States, where small isolated towns could escape nuclear fire. »ALSO READ Nuclear deterrence: Macron’s unbearable lightness
Strategic sites linked to nuclear deterrence, such as the Jupiter PC under the Élysée, are bunkers buried deep underground, capable of resisting “disarming” strikes and therefore of responding.
“On the other hand, we could better prepare the population for climate crises or acts of sabotage on critical infrastructures such as water or electricity,” estimates the international risks consultant. The government does have an Internet page entitled “Risks” and giving some advice and the attitude to adopt in the event of a terrorist attack or cyberattack, which is summarized in a few visuals.
A bit light compared to Sweden, which distributes five million copies of a 32-page booklet in order to prepare its population for the risks of war, in particular aerial bombardments. In addition to the shelters listed by the Swedish government (64,000 for a total of 7 million places), cellars, garages and underground metro stations are recommended for shelter.
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Germany, without a sovereign nuclear deterrent, is not in the same position as France. It remains dependent on the American umbrella, less and less reliable while Donald Trump displays an isolationist line for his country. “It reactivates an old fear, that of being once again, as during the Cold War, a potential battlefield, with the use of tactical nuclear weapons,” analyzes Stéphane Audrand.
The firing of a Russian medium-range intercontinental ballistic missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnieper on November 21 was seen as a strategic signal by kyiv's allies. However, France shortly after authorized Ukraine to use Scalp cruise missiles to strike military targets on Russian territory. However, stocks of these missiles – as well as their English Storm Shadow brothers – are limited. Only the German Taurus missiles remain, which Berlin has refused to deliver to Ukraine for several months. “This shot helped to scare and paralyze Germany a little more at a time when its Chancellor is under political threat,” concludes Stéphane Audrand.
