The yellow-covered booklet shows a military woman, weapon in hand, in the foreground, in front of a warship and a fighter plane soaring through the air, protecting a family trying to stand together. Sweden began sending five million copies of a brochure “If Crisis or War Comes” this Monday, in a country with ten million inhabitants.
Objective: prepare the population for the possibility of armed conflict. Finland, for its part, launched a website with crisis preparedness advice.
“The military threat against Sweden has increased and we must prepare for the worst – an armed attack” indicates in the preamble of its booklet the Swedish Civil Protection Agency (MSB), which adds that “there are also means other than military force to influence and harm our country, such as cyberattacks, influence campaigns, terrorism and sabotage. »
“You will need at least three liters of water per day”
The agency thus provides advice on protecting yourself from air raids and strengthening your digital security. She begins by saying that when “on high alert, you may be called upon to help in a variety of ways” and that “most of us may have to fend for ourselves for at least a week.” » This is why she advises storing “supplies” (canned goods, cereals, pasta) for a week, and water knowing that “you will need at least three liters of water per day, mainly for drinking and cook. »
It is also advisable to always have warm clothes at home, to keep you going in the event of a power outage, to meet in a room and “hang blankets on the windows and cover the floor with rugs. » A radio powered by batteries or solar energy can also be useful.
In the event of an air raid, “you must immediately go to a shelter [antiatomique] or other protected place. » “Basements, garages and underground metro stations also offer protection. » “In times of crisis and war, we must all help each other” also recalls the MSB, which also insists on the fact that Sweden has been a member of NATO since this year, and that as such it does not would not be alone to face in the event of enemy aggression.
“A war is raging in our immediate region”
This is not the first time that Stockholm has advised its population to prepare. And this is not the first edition of this booklet, which had already been distributed in 2018, when the security situation had deteriorated, and in 1961 during the Cold War. But this time the brochure places more emphasis on the possibility of armed conflict.
“The situation in the world has changed considerably, a war is raging in our immediate region, terrorist threats, cyberattacks and disinformation are being used to harm us,” explains Anna Wennerström, press officer at MSB, in the columns of the Swedish daily Dagens Industri. “The security situation is serious and we all need to strengthen our resilience in order to be able to face crises, and, ultimately, war,” said Mikael Frisell, director of MSB, in a press release.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
“More and more people started to take a lot more interest in their preparation,” continues the MSB spokesperson. Which does not mean giving in to panic. “In Sweden, we have never been afraid to talk about crises and wars,” recalled Swedish Minister of Civil Protection Carl-Oskar Bohlin. This is not alarming, it is a strength. »
