The Estonian and Swedish governments are both planning to publish a brochure to help prepare residents and households in the event of major crisis or a war. Both countries are critical to free passage for the Baltic Sea and historically have endured threats from Russia.
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Only last year Russian President Putin made claims to the Baltic states.
Estonia Brig. Gen. Martin Herem in a recent interview with Estonian daily Postimees said the Ministry of the Interior is coordinating work on the brochure. Herem said, “When it will be published, I don’t know. But work is in progress,”
Brig. Gen. Martin Herem is endorsed by the government as the next commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and will be appointed in December this year.
Last week it was also announced that Sweden is preparing to do the same. The Swedish brochure will be sent to 4.7 million households and inform the public how they can take part in the “total defense” of the country during a war, and secure water, food, and heating.
The booklet withhas the working title “If crisis or war comes” will also offer guidance regarding the threats of cyberattacks, terrorism, and climate change it was reported in the Financial Times.
Brocures to citizens on how to prepare and act in a national crisis, particularly in the case of nuclear war, were issued regularly to households in Sweden between 1943 and 1991. At the end of the cold war the booklet was considered redundant, and its distribution ceased.
The Swedish minister said a crisis in the Baltic sea region would require joint response. It should be noted that many countries in the european and Russian sphere have published similar publications, and in some cases run whole campaigns. They usually focus on behavior in case of an attack, with instructions what to do ranging from how to avoid nuclear fallout to what to do with clothing, food, and other goods in the case of a suspected chemical attack.
With the more recent Russian rhetoric and agression in Crimea and Ukraine there is a more urgent tone in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
Sweden recently held its biggest military exercise in more than two decades, when it ran war games in September last year involving 19,000 troops as well as allies from Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Norway, and the United States. Swedish officials as well as military commanders have repeatedly said that the security situation in the area is changing, and that with Russia’s asserted and often provocative behavior there is the need to update military equipment and procedures. The country also voted to reinstate compulsory military service last year.
Source: ERR, BNS, Brochure to be published what to do in case of crisis or war