Germany‘s Interior Ministry has called for civil defence training in schools and is urging citizens to stockpile food, water and essentials in response to the deteriorating security situation in Europe and a growing WW3 threat.
The unprecedented move, confirmed in a statement to Handelsblatt newspaper, would see German schoolchildren taught how to respond in volatile war-like scenarios.
A ministry spokesman said civil protection ‘should be given greater focus, including in schools’, given the alarming recent geopolitical developments and expert testimonies that Russia could be ready to strike NATO territory within a few years.
Defence spokesperson Roderich Kiesewetter for the conservative CDU party said it was ‘absolutely necessary’ for schoolchildren to train for emergencies, calling them ‘especially vulnerable and particularly affected in an emergency’.
He is calling for mandatory basic training in disaster response, modelled on systems in Finland, which has been preparing citizens for the possibility of a war with Vladimir Putin‘s Russia for years.
Berlin says it even stands ready to provide all schools and teachers with national crisis materials via the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) – and this is although technically education matters are something decided independently by each federal state.
The ministry also approved a new EU Commission initiative on wartime readiness, and recommended that all German citizens even prepare emergency supplies to last at least 72 hours as per recommendations from the European Union.
Hellbound and Down 