© (Kungliga Inrikesdepartementet/Wikimedia Commons
The brochure, which will be sent to 4.7 million households, will tell the public how they can take part in 'total defence' during a war and secure food, water and heating." It is titled 'If Crisis or War Comes' and will also provide expert guidance on the best way to deal with threats from cyber attacks, climate change and terrorism.
The brochures comes after Russia's annexation of Crimea and continued support for Ukrainian separatists, which has sparked deep concerns within Sweden.
Comment: Sweden should've been 'deeply concerned' with the West's support for Ukraine's violent revolution - after all, that's why Crimea voted to be annexed by Russia and why there are 'Ukrainian separatists' in the first place. But that wouldn't really fit the narrative of 'Western innocence' vs 'Russian aggression,' would it?
Despite being traditionally neutral, the country has reportedly begun to reverse deep-seated post war defence cuts, and discussions have began over whether to join Nato after Russian planes and submarines entered Swedish territory.
As well as holding 'War Games' which involved 19,000 Swedish personnel, 2017 saw Sweden reintroducing conscription. 'All of society needs to be prepared for conflict, not just the military. We haven't been using words such as total defence or high alert for 25-30 years or more. So the knowledge among citizens is very low', claimed Christina Andersson, the leader of the project at the Swedish civil contingencies agency.
Recently there was an article [Link] in on popular Danish information site about Science and discoveries about a very cold period around 536 A.D. where the populations in areas of Norway and Sweden were reduced to half their previous size. At the end of this article they calm down the reader by saying we are much better equiped to meet such challenges today and that such an event will not repeat. Well, I would like to disagree, the super digitalized Nordic countries are rather sensitive to break downs in the internet connection. Sometimes I have gone into shops, and there were goods but no shoppers, because the net was down which allows paying by card, and only a few weeks ago in Denmark everyone could travel for free on the trains for a few hours, because the whole ticket system was down. Besides, people have gotten so used to shopping that they many basically would not be able to go without it for more than three days, since they have no stocks worth mentioning. Therefore, although the rethoric around the coming issue of a pamphlet about preparing for conflict is dubious, the idea of educating people how to meet the unexpected for at least a few days can hardly be wrong, given the location of Sweden on the globe.