Finland will build up the largest strategic reserve of emergency supplies in the European Union after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an effort within the bloc to boost its crisis preparedness, according Bloomberg.
The project, which received €242 million in funding from the European Commission, will set up a strategic reserve intended for use by countries in the Northern and Eastern Europe in case of emergencies, Finland’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats are more likely due to the current global situation, and that is what motivates the European Commission as well,” Tarja Rantala, a project manager at the ministry, said in an interview. “This is also connected to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The stockpile to be largely built up during 2024 in Finland will include protective and measurement equipment, detectors, rapid tests as well as medicines and vaccines to be used by both first responders and the civilian population, also in case of pandemics, Rantala added.
While similar stocks are also being established in France, Poland and Croatia, the set up in Finland is the largest one, covering both protective and medical materials as part of the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
The idea is also for local authorities to expand their skill sets, with the EU expecting Finland to provide “groundbreaking” knowledge and experience as it drafts guidelines by the end of 2023 on managing and deploying the bloc’s strategic reserves.