Pushed to reconsider its defence capabilities by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Germany is planning to invest in turning cellars and underground parking into bunkers, while also stocking up on emergency equipment.

“We currently have 599 public shelters in Germany,” Faeser told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. “We will check whether there are more such facilities that we could upgrade. In any case, we have stopped dismantling shelters.” 

The Social Democrat added that the government would look into strengthening the building structures of underground car parks, U-Bahn stations and cellars so that they could be used as shelters.

“The new era we are living in as a result of the war requires us to significantly strengthen protection against military threats,” Faeser said. “We are working intensively to ensure that the federal government can coordinate and steer things more strongly here.”

More money will also go towards modernising the country’s public alarm systems, with Faeser confirming an 88 million euro investment in new alarm infrastructure.

Meanwhile the government also plans to develop crisis alerts via app and stockpile emergency medical equipment and medicine.

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