Faeser relies on emergency power and drinking water for civil protection

According to Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, there will be no civil protection bunkers for millions of people in Germany in the future either. The existing resources should be better used for an effective warning, for emergency power generators, emergency wells and systems for the treatment of drinking water as well as for mobile accommodation for the temporary accommodation and care of a larger number of people, said the SPD politician on Monday at an event of the German press agency in Berlin.

When asked about the inventory of bunkers that started in 2022, she replied: "No, I don't think it's realistic that this is a scenario, we have to focus on other things."

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the huge bunkers under the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday evening. "In terms of civil protection, Finland is a pioneer in Europe and a role model for all of us," she said. The underground facilities offer space for 900,000 people – more than the city has inhabitants. In times of peace, the facilities are used as sports halls, among other things.

There are 50,500 bunkers in Finland, sheltering five million people. The country has 5.5 million inhabitants. The facilities date from the Cold War era. Finland shares a 1,340 km border with Russia.

Baerbock referred to this long limit in an answer to the question of why Germany does not have such protective systems. "Fortunately, in the past, Germany was not as exposed to the risk that we ourselves are vulnerable" as other countries, she said. But she also emphasized that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine signified a turning point. "Precaution is the best protection, especially in these times," she said.

In Germany it was decided in 2007 to close down the public shelters. This process was initially stopped in March 2022 – after the start of the Ukraine war. The President of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), Ralph Tiesler, said in an interview last autumn that an inventory of the remaining bunkers and shelters is currently being carried out.

In 2023, it should then be seen "which of them can theoretically be reactivated". At the same time, Tiesler pointed out that in the past there had “never been more shelters for more than three percent of the population”.