Europe on the brink of a state of emergency: "Stock up on water, food that doesn't require cooking, medicine, and a radio"
Governments across Europe, including the UK, Poland, France, and Germany, are accelerating civilian emergency preparedness due to fears of the war in Ukraine expanding and increased Russian activity. Guidelines include stocking up on water, food, medicine, and a radio, alongside extensive medical drills like Medic Quadriga.
In recent months, European governments, including those of the UK, Poland, France, and Germany, have been accelerating civilian emergency preparedness amid fears of the war in Ukraine expanding and increased Russian activity against European countries. Public guidelines include stocking up on water (2.5 to 3 liters per person per day), non-perishable food, medicine, a flashlight, batteries, a portable charger, and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio. The UK has expanded its national resilience program and printed about 17 million copies of a guide for distribution to households, including instructions for dealing with an aerial attack, prolonged power outage, nuclear or biological event, and evacuation from home. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned this week, based on intelligence information, that Russia might attempt to carry out attacks using drones or missiles on NATO territory, while trying to present them as accidental incidents. This year, the Medic Quadriga exercise, the largest of its kind in decades, was held, practicing the evacuation of casualties from a combat zone in Eastern Europe to hospitals in Germany. The German Defense Ministry emphasizes that military hospitals alone cannot handle such a scale, so a joint system with civilian hospitals is being built. The article notes that the cumulative picture does not indicate an assessment that war is about to break out imminently, but it does reflect a profound change in the European approach to security.