The European Union is pushing for citizens to be issued with a 72-hour survival kit to be used in the event of war and natural disasters. The EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib will present proposals today as part of a wider project looking at “preparedness2 of the bloc’s 27 member states.
Under the proposals, EU citizens will be told to stock up on essential items that would allow them to sustain themselves in the event of a crisis. Such items would include a flashlight, bottled water, tinned food and ID documents. It comes at a time when EU and NATO countries are enhancing their readiness for war or increased global tensions.
Lawmakers from the European Parliament’s centrist group, Renew, recently wrote to the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to urge her to send a handbook to every citizen in the union to help them prepare for “various crises, from potential conflict to climate disasters, pandemics and cyberthreats.”
EU nations are increasing their defence spending and reevaluating the organisation of their armed forces amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine and uncertainty of the commitment of the United States to underpinning European security.
There are fears a ceasefire in Ukraine, which could prevent Ukraine from rearming, could allow Russia to reconstitute its forces and personnel ahead of further incursions into sovereign European territories.
Such actions, if undertaken against a member of NATO, could be the catalyst for war on the continent and across the world.
Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “There’s a conflict in Ukraine, in which Russians, as a matter of fact, have made things global.
“Will the war be limited to this theater? Let’s hope so.”
There are currently large disparities between European countries’ readiness for conflict.
Countries such as Poland and Estonia, both of whom share a land border with Russia, spend 4.12% and 3.43% of GDP respectively while Spain and Italy both spend less than 1.5%.
The readiness of NATO members’ armed forces also fluctuates significantly, with some enforcing a form of national service to train and prepare citizens for war and others struggling to recruit people into the military at the rate in which they are losing people.
Nordic nations of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, all have national service while the British Army currently has less than 70,000 soldiers amidst a growing difficulty to entice young people into the armed forces.
