As Germany’s Angela Merkel faces increasing pressure regarding her nation’s security, the German government has issued a civil defense report addressing the role the German people are to play.
For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday.Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by a mentally unstable teenager last month. Berlin announced measures earlier this month to spend considerably more on its police and security forces and to create a special unit to counter cyber crime and terrorism.“The population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days,” the newspaper quoted the government’s “Concept for Civil Defence” – which has been prepared by the Interior Ministry – as saying.
It’s not clear whether this obligation will be mandatory and enforced or if this is simply a common sense measure much like the ones our own government recommends. DHS recommends that Americans keep on hand a three-day supply of food and water, and FEMA recommends keeping a two-week supply of food and water.
While the German civil defense report is still being debated and has not been released in full, the plan, as initially reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, will apparently include a basic requirement of a stockpiled five-day supply of drinking water and other measures to “prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence.”
Reuters continues:
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the plan would be discussed by the cabinet on Wednesday and presented by the minister that afternoon. He declined to give any details on the content.People will be required to stockpile enough drinking water to last for five days, according to the plan, the paper said.The 69-page report does not see an attack on Germany’s territory, which would require a conventional style of national defense, as likely.However, the precautionary measures demand that people “prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future,” the paper cited the report as saying.It also mentions the necessity of a reliable alarm system, better structural protection of buildings and more capacity in the health system, the paper said.A further priority should be more support of the armed forces by civilians, it added.
Reuters also notes that “Germany’s Defence Minister said earlier this month the country lay in the ‘crosshairs of terrorism’ and pressed for plans for the military to train more closely with police in preparing for potential large-scale militant attacks.”
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