Sweden just published a pamphlet preparing its citizens for war. What has got Stockholm worried?
‘It’s important that everyone has knowledge of what can threaten us so we can prepare in case something serious occurs’
The Swedish government on Monday presented an emergency pamphlet to prepare millions of citizens in the event of a war, natural disaster or cyberattack amid soaring tensions between Russia and the Western allies.
Entitled “If Crisis or War Comes”, the brochure is published in 13 languages at the request of the government and gives advice on how to take shelter, what foods to store and what information to trust. It will be sent to 4.8 million Swedes between May 28 and June 3.
“Even if Sweden is safer than many other countries … threats do exist,” said Dan Eliasson, head of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, which prepared the booklet.
“It’s important that everyone has knowledge of what can threaten us so we can prepare in case something serious occurs,” he told a news conference in Stockholm.
“Sweden will be affected if there is a military conflict close to us. It might affect our import of goods like food and so on … even though the military conflict is not in Sweden itself we can get affected,” said Christina Andersson, the brochure’s project manager.