War is now a possibility in Norway, by the prime minister’s own admission. The country, which borders Russia, has gone into “total defense” mode, preparing its population for the worst in light of the fighting in Ukraine.
Dug beneath a peaceful park, the St. Hanshaugen air raid shelter, one of Oslo’s largest, can shelter 1,100 people behind its heavy metal doors if the worst comes to pass.
The air is chilly, the lights dim, and the toilets basic: it’s far from cozy, but it is designed to protect against the threat of bombings and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials.
“Today we have about 18,600 shelters (enough to protect) a little less than 50 percent of the population” of 5.6 million people, the head of Norway’s Civil Defense Oistein Knudsen told AFP.
“Quite a few of them need to be upgraded. They were built during the Cold War. They are humid. They’re old,” he said.
NATO member Norway wants to reinstate the requirement that new large buildings be equipped with air-raid shelters, a requirement lifted in 1998 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The idea is not to build costly, top-notch shelters, but basic protection against threats like drones, which now dominate battlefields.
“My Ukrainian colleagues are fighting an existential war on their own territory, and still they take time to share experiences,” Knudsen said.
“And just listening to what they’re experiencing, attacks on the civilian population, what it means to operate as a civil defense force in times of war, those experiences are invaluable.”
Building shelters was among the 100 proposals included in a white paper last year.
The government also wants to increase the number of men and women in the civil defense by 50 percent to 12,000, require all municipalities to establish “local preparedness councils”, and raise the food self-sufficiency rate to 50 percent by 2030.
Separately, households are urged to stock enough supplies to last seven days.
“We have enjoyed the luxury in Norway for many decades of being able to spend our resources on other things,” said state secretary Kristine Kallset at the public security ministry.
“When the security situation deteriorated, we realized there are a number of things we need to do to ensure our preparedness also accounts for war in the worst-case scenario,” she told AFP in the government’s new offices.
The buildings were recently inaugurated after they were destroyed by a bomb set off by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik in 2011. Ironically, they do not have an air raid shelter.
In his New Year’s address, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store warned fellow citizens that “war could once again come to Norway”.
The country has declared 2026 the year of “total defense”, a concept aimed at preparing all facets of society — military, administrations, companies, etc — for a major crisis or war.
“The current threat picture — whether it’s the climate crisis, rivalry between superpowers, the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, or pandemics — is much more interdisciplinary than it was 20 years ago,” said Jarle Lowe Sorensen, a crisis management expert at the University of Southern Norway.
“We’re on the right track in terms of preparedness… but there are bureaucratic, legal and organizational mechanisms that often hinder the proper functioning of the system and prevent everything from fitting together in a truly optimal way,” he said.
For instance, the geographic areas of responsibility for police, firefighters, health services, and the national guard are not always the same, making coordination difficult.
On the streets of Oslo, people’s awareness and preparedness vary.
“It’s not something I think about in my day-to-day life, but I do have my own little emergency kit,” said 51-year-old business owner Oystein Ringen Vatnedalen.
“I’ve got some cash set aside, I’ve thought through a few scenarios —where I’d go, who I’d look after — and I’ve got a DAB radio, water, and everything the authorities recommend.”
By contrast, 48-year-old sustainability consultant Kathe Hermstad hasn’t made any particular preparations.
“The most important thing is to have a network and community around you” to help each other, she said.
According to a Civil Defense study, 37 percent of Norwegians say they have boosted their preparedness over the past year, but only 21 percent fear a war on the country’s soil in the next five years.
By Agence France-Presse
