For the first time since the Cold War, the German government will tell its citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or other catastrophe, the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported on Sunday.
According to Reuters, “Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by a mentally unstable teenager last month.” Officials in Berlin announced earlier this month that they would be spending more money on beefing up their police and security forces and creating “a special unit to counter cyber crime and terrorism.”
The German newspaper quoted the Concept for Civil Defense, a government document prepared by the Interior Ministry, as saying that “the population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days.” German citizens will also be required to keep a five day water supply on hand. According to the paper, a parliamentary committee commissioned the civil defense strategy in 2012.
A spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry said the cabinet will discuss the strategy on Wednesday and it will be presented by the minister that afternoon. The Concept for Civil Defense will make sure people “prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future.”
Earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen — the country’s Minister of Defense — warned that the German people lay in the “crosshairs of terrorism” and urged the military and police to train together to prepare for “large-scale militant attacks.”
(Via Reuters & The Independent)