Northern citizens gear up for resilience
14 March 2025
How do you prepare European citizens for a crisis? The Baltic countries, in proximity to Russia, are showing us the way. They're rapidly scaling up civil preparedness programmes, driven by lessons from Soviet occupation and growing European security uncertainty.
In Lithuania, 115,000 people signed up for civil resilience courses by the defence ministry in the first two months of 2025 alone – up from 30,000 in the whole year of 2023. A significant number given Lithuania's population of 2.8 million.
These courses teach practical skills like stockpiling supplies, pet care, preparing for communication blackouts, and organising community response systems. For governments, prepared citizens reduce the strain on emergency services and allow authorities to focus on defence and stabilisation. Latvian authorities introduced measures like the "72-hour bag" for survival essentials.
Despite these preparations, the Baltics' security hinges on international support. Latvia’s armed forces consist of just 7,870 professional service soldiers and 10,000 members of the National Guard. In addition, the country has approximately 38,000 reserve soldiers who can be mobilised when necessary.
Further north, Finns, who share a 1,340km border with Russia, have been quick to fill up waiting lists for their shooting and survival training. Finland also enhanced its crisis readiness in late 2024, with a new government website offering practical emergency guidance to help citizens prepare for disruptions to daily life.
Meanwhile, in February, Sweden and Poland committed to strengthening Europe's civil resilience. Poland has been particularly active in preparing its people – within less than a year, the country drafted, approved, and signed a new civil protection law, which came into force in 2025, focusing on public awareness and practical training, including in schools.
 | Gerda Krivaite and Kristiana Nitisa While the countries closest to Russia have had civil preparedness high up on their agendas for a while now, others in Europe are now beginning to catch up. The Netherlands recently upgraded its recommendation for citizens to maintain 72-hour emergency kits (up from 48 hours), with their justice minister explicitly stating that "civil defence must increase" at the same rate across Europe. Germany is reviving its bunker network and developing civilian shelter applications. The contrast, however, remains visible between countries with historical experience of Russian occupation and the rest of Europe. As global tensions rise, these efforts make sense in the context of regional realities. However, while 72-hour emergency kits are a start, too much focus on such measures could create unnecessary fear. True preparedness needs clear government communication and trust in institutions – a thought to keep in mind for the unpredictable future. |
Welcome to The European Correspondent
Europe lacks true European media: in Germany alone, there are more media devoted exclusively to football than news outlets specialising on Europe. The established players mainly focus on Brussels and European institutions. The European Correspondent aims to change that. We cover the whole of Europe and write for a community of citizens who want to look beyond their own national borders. Without European journalism, there is no European civil society.
〉Read our manifesto
〉The stories we would like to write for you
Become a donor!
The European Correspondent is fully funded by its readers. We can only produce the newsletter with your support - and work towards the bigger project: building true European media. Donate now!
With your help, we can create true European journalism. Thank you!
We are non-profit. Every donated € goes directly into The European Correspondent.