The Danish Emergency Management Agency recently called for a new overview of the number of bunkers in each of Denmark’s 98 municipalities in light of the war in Ukraine.
In the meantime, DR has made its own survey, which has received responses from about three quarters of the municipalities.
Some, it turned out, have enough space for all their residents, while others have extremely limited space.
Mostly in the hands of the municipalities
The possibility of a war between Russia and NATO remains remote, but that has not deterred the Emergency Management Agency from pressuring the country’s municipalities to get an update on the number of seats they have in their bunkers. The last official report was conducted two decades ago.
But while the municipalities are obliged to ensure the safety of their inhabitants, they are not obliged to respond to the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
After all, securing enough seats to ensure the safety of all their residents after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s has hardly been a priority. The municipal organization KL will decide whether a statement should be made, not the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
Jakob Bisgaard, an official in Aalborg Municipality, perhaps summed up the situation best when he told DR: “We are a place no one had imagined. Instead of building shelters, we have spent the money on welfare. ”
Mostly in disrepair
Most of the piles are used for other purposes. For example, DR found examples of bands using them for rehearsals. And it is believed that some are full of mold and even underwater.
Until 2003, the municipalities were required by law to ensure that the premises could be used with 24 hours notice.
Now the only authority that can directly order the municipalities to control the piles is the Ministry of Defense.
Some have enough, others not near enough
According to DR, Dragør Municipality on Amager has one place for every 29 of its inhabitants. In Aalborg, the ratio is one for every six.
While in Hvidovre and Albertslund, both in the Capital Region, there is room for every resident.
Some municipalities have simply not investigated their bunker situation.
In the unlikely event…
Again, it is emphasized that the possibility of air attack sirens ringing all over Denmark when the enemy’s bombers approach is extremely unlikely.
– The emergency services are not geared for war on Danish soil, concluded the chairman of the Danish Emergency Management Agency, Jarl Vagn Hansen.
“And we are not, because it has not been a scenario to look at for many years.”
Source: The Nordic Page