Construction of Europe’s Largest Doomsday Stockpile Quietly Gets Underway

Original article here.

Finland is stockpiling emergency supplies to help prepare for a potential nuclear catastrophe, in an EU-funded project spurred by the threat posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Finnish interior ministry said on Wednesday that the stockpile would include protective gear, measurement equipment, medicines and vaccines for an emergency involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) threats.

Finland was given funding worth €242 million ($263 million) for the project at the start of 2023, after Janez Lenarcic, the European commissioner for crisis management, said on January 17 that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “has confirmed the need to strengthen EU CBRN preparedness.”

Finland has just joined NATO, with its membership spurred by the threat Moscow poses. It shares an 800-mile border with Russia and is close to the Baltic states, which have warned about the danger of Moscow’s nuclear capabilities.

Finland’s CBRN Reserve’s project manager, Tarja Rantala, said in a statement that while similar reserves are being set up in France, Poland and Croatia, Helsinki’s plan is the largest, and that it would be ready by next year.

The project is part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the heart of which is the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) in Brussels, which coordinates assistance from around the world, although it prioritizes European countries.

When the ERCC approves a request, Finland will collect material from the stockpiles and make it ready for transport within 12 hours, although this process will be tested first.

“Establishing CBRN strategic reserves on this scale in Europe is, to a very large extent, a pilot project,” Rantala said in the statement.

When contacted for comment, Rantala told Newsweek that the project and EU Commission’s funding for CBRN stockpiles “are not directly related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but of course, it is one of the factors behind it.”

“The EU Commission started to plan to open up a call for project proposal already in 2021 and the funding was also available for measures to tackle pandemics,” she said.

“As the COVID pandemic situation started to ease, it is my understanding that the sphere was then enlarged to cover also CBRN threats,” she added, with Finland starting to draft the project proposal in 2021 before the war started and being approved by the EU Commission in December 2022.

A nuclear threat has hovered over the region since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, with the Russian president putting his nuclear forces on alert. Kremlin-backed media outlets have made repeated calls for nuclear strikes on Western countries that support Ukraine.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine captured by Russian forces has come under fire, reportedly from both sides, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. There are concerns in the West that Russia is planning a false flag operation at the site and will blame Ukraine for a nuclear leak.

In April this year, the Finnish defense ministry said it would take part in NATO‘s nuclear planning and support operations, although it has decided not to allow any nuclear arms on its territory.

Janne Kuusela, the director general for defense policy, told Reuters that nuclear weapons were central to NATO’s deterrence and defense, and that Helsinki “will enjoy the protection from them.”