Finland is thousands of fortified shelters in preparation for possible conflicts

Children play football in closed halls in the center of the Finnish capital, Helsinki, in an underground shelter.

In this shelter located in the Maryhaka area, there is a café, a children’s playground, a volleyball court, a gym, and a patch stadium, a hockey -like sport, in addition to a car park that accommodates hundreds of vehicles, and there is everything necessary to house thousands of people in the event of war or emergency.

Maryhaka’s shelter, which the municipality built in 2003, can be reached from the street by an elevator, and thus the parking lots and sports facilities are reached at the time of peace.

In the event of a dispute or crisis, the mineral stairs installed in the residential complex will be used.

Entry to the protected area is made through two giant blue iron doors, separated by an area equipped with water taps and is intended for disinfection, where the first door is designed to endure the explosion, while the second was designed to prevent the leakage of any type of gas or radiation.

Maryhaka’s cache can be transformed into granite rocks and covers an area of ​​14 thousand and 750 square meters into a shelter for 6,000 people in less than 72 hours.

Thick, winding walls with the main wings lead to the main wings, each of which has 2000 beds of folded and carefully stacked fabric, and in the vicinity the yellow lines on the floor indicate the place where 400 mobile toilet should be installed.

Facing the threat

The construction of the shelter network in Finland began in the 1960s, and has been expanded and constantly operated since then.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the authorities have doubled their efforts to keep it ready in facing the increasing Russian threat, and there are 50 thousand and 500 shelters currently widespread throughout the country.

And if the sirens are launched, the population will have to go to the shelters allocated to them carrying food (there are no kitchens in hideouts), clothes and blankets, and pets will not be allowed.

She said: «In Maryhaka, the 6000 people will be divided into three groups, and they will turn for eight hours, and the time is divided into three periods: sleep, work, maintenance, cleaning, etc., in addition to the free time.

“We have lists of jobs that people will practice if the residents have to stay in shelter for two weeks or more,” Le Leeseraneta said.

A firm doctrine

In Helsinki alone, there are 5,500 shelters that can accommodate nearly a million people, and this is not only enough to accommodate more than 650,000 residents of the capital, but also the residents of other municipalities in the urban area who work in the city as well, and even hotel guests.

Some shelters contain vehicle racing tracks, a ski circuit, or a swimming pool, and hosts other concerts.

In all parts of the country, 87% of the population will have enough space to take shelter at the same time (4.8 million places for 5.5 million people).

Finland is a member state of the European Union and NATO (NATO) and shares in the longest border with Russia, which is more than 830 miles.

The Deputy Director General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael Antil, stressed that the Scandinavian state has never eased its caution during the decades of the Cold War, while it remained neutral.

He said: “We were never afraid of Russia, but we were always worried and alert.” Investment in defense has decreased throughout Europe, “continuing that it is” part of our established faith. “

A comprehensive defense system

The wide shelter network in Finland is one of the pillars of a comprehensive defense system concerned with society as a whole and includes many government agencies and partnerships with the private sector.

The commitment to contributing to the national defense is part of the Finnish constitution, and all men must perform military service.

The Scandinavian state has more than 1,000 agreements with private companies to produce equipment or provide services at times of war, and it also maintains reserves of at least six months of fuel and main grains.

Last May, Finland began storing weapons, ammunition and military equipment outside its borders.

At the present time, these stores are only in the neighboring Norway, although they are planning to do this in Sweden in the near future.

Voluntary training courses for civil defense are organized in various parts of the country, where students learn basic safety techniques, first aid, fire control, self -defense and guidance.

For example, there is a course for women only that lasts during the entire weekend and is called “survival without electricity”, and people learn how to ignite the fire, cooking in the open air and heating.

According to the Deputy Director General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the “commercial, political and cultural elite” attends these types of courses regularly. About “El Pais”

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Rising tensions

During nearly three years of war in Ukraine, especially since Finland joined NATO, in April 2023, tensions between Helsinki and Moscow have escalated.

In recent months, electronic attacks and campaigns of misinformation and sabotage of infrastructure in the Baltic Sea have become, and interfering in the signals of the global GPS system is common, and a senior official in the Finnish Ministry of Defense, who preferred not to be named, says: “Finland does not live in wartime, but it is not She lives in a time of peace as well. ”

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Effective participation

“Finland is a good country, deserves to be defended, and the defender of this country is the people of Finland,” says General of the Infantry, Finn, Adolf Ernworth, a retired and ancient warrior in World War II, who participated in public life until he exceeded 90 years of age.

He added, “We must make sure that Finland will not stand alone, as it did during the winter war at the beginning of World War II.”

With Finland now joining NATO (NATO), these positions have become more honest than ever, Finland will never stand again again, and Finns may never teach their NATO allies anything about determination, preparation and comprehensive security.

Among the many origins that Finland brings to the alliance, this mentality is the most important.

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Mandatory military service

Most of the population supports the compulsory service in the army. Reuters

The Finnish army includes only 13,000 professional individuals, but it has 900,000 reserve soldiers, and Helsinki can prepare an army in wartime in record time, and although it is the ninth of the smallest member state of the European Union in terms of population, Finland includes the largest number of soldiers Reserves, and every year 20 thousand men volunteer and about 1,000 women to serve for a period of six months and 12 months.

A recent study by an official body in Finland indicated that about 80% of the population supports maintaining compulsory military service.

Other opinion polls place Finland and Sweden as two organs in the European Union, where the largest percentage of the population is ready to “fight for the homeland” (about 65%, or more than three times the percentage in Germany, Italy or Spain).

“More people, especially among the young generation, believe that it is not fair for men to be asked only to perform compulsory military service,” said Brigadier General Marco Vitasari. However, Vitasari confirms that it will be impossible in the medium term The short is the absorption and training of almost twice the number of recruits every year.

In a society where women have a prominent general presence, the discussion is inevitable.

. Maryhaka’s cache, which covers an area of ​​14.7 thousand square meters, can be converted into a shelter for 6,000 people in less than 72 hours.

. Throughout the country, 87% of the population will have enough space to take shelter at the same time.