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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jon Henley, Miranda Bryant and Kate Connolly

‘Would you survive 72 hours?’ Germany and the Nordic countries prepare citizens for possible war

Germany Sweden Finland Russia
A female soldier of the P18 Gotland Regiment, Sweden covers her face with paint during a field exercise
A female soldier of the P18 Gotland Regiment covers her face with paint during a field exercise near Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland in 2022. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide.

If the prospect of a broader conflict in Europe seems remote for many, some countries at least are taking it seriously – and, in the term used by Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, taking steps to get populations kriegstüchtig: war-capable.

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