In light of the high risk of a military conflict involving NATO, Sweden has begun preparing additional space in cemeteries.
Swedish burial associations are seeking to acquire enough land for what they hope they will never have to do: bury thousands of dead in the event of a war.
The Associated Press writes about this.
The preparation of additional cemeteries began in accordance with the recommendations of the Church of Sweden and special guidelines developed by the Swedish Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces.
The publication notes that the need to prepare for a possible military conflict has become especially urgent in connection with Sweden's decision to join NATO and the tensions in relations with Russia in the Baltic Sea region.
In Sweden, burial associations are required by law to provide burial places for 5% of the population in times of crisis. Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city, is currently negotiating the purchase of 10 acres (40,470 square meters) of land to provide around 30,000 burial places for the war dead.
“This means that we need more land for burials, and this is a phenomenon and a problem in large cities, where there is not enough land to meet the needs for burials in peacetime,” said Katarina Evenseth, senior adviser to the Gothenburg Burial Association.
Together with the local municipality, which has a monopoly on decisions on land use in Gothenburg, the burial association has identified a vast area suitable for a large-scale cemetery. However, the lengthy approval and construction process could take around 10 years, creating additional challenges in uncertain times.
“Unfortunately, this is a case where we are increasingly being reminded that war could happen, and that we just need to be prepared for it,” said Jan-Olof Olsson, an expert on critical infrastructure protection (CIP) at MSB.
The publication recalled that in November, Sweden and Finland sent out updated civil preparedness guidelines to their citizens with instructions on how to survive a war. Similar guidelines were also received by citizens of Denmark and Norway this year, although Russia is not mentioned in them even once.
Recall that the Danish Prime Minister stocked up on canned food “just in case.” According to Mette Frederiksen, the threat landscape of 2025 is so diverse that not only states must prepare, but every responsible citizen must become more resilient to crisis situations.
Related topics:
More news
