Berlin
CNN
–
Germany’s aging and aging bunker network requires major overhauls, according to the head of the federal agency responsible for national civil protection in the case of attacks.
In an interview with popular German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, President of the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Agency (BBK), Ralph Thiesler said:
Teesler’s words represent the true fear that echoed across Europe that Russia could try to launch an attack on Europe again within four years. That time slot is widely regarded as the need to raise Russia after Russia fought a long, bloody campaign in Ukraine.
Germany has only 580 bunkers, but many of them are not operating, a newspaper report said. That number has fallen from nearly 2,000 that existed during the Cold War.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that in the case of an attack, only 5% of Germany’s population would currently be able to search for shelter in the case of an attack.
Germany has a population of approximately 83 million.
The Civil Protection Agency chief said it would not only “quickly create one million shelter space” for tunnels, metro stations, underground garages and public building basements, but also expand the country’s siren and notification system.
Teesler added that his agency will present a complete plan for improvements and expansion in the summer, but they will need to secure funds.
“A new bunker system with extremely high protection requirements will take a lot of money and time,” Tiesler said. He said that BBK will need “at least” Euro 10 billion ($11 billion) over the next four years, and likely another Euro 30 billion ($34 billion) over the next decade.
However, optimism is due to several reasons for German institutions.
Before officially becoming prime minister, Friedrich Merz was able to unlock half a trillion euros ($570 billion) of German defence spending.
However, given the size of the task of updating the German army, money allocation could be prioritized elsewhere.
Merz recently vowed to make the German army the strongest in Europe, but to fulfill that pledge, he would have to spend a large sum of money to modernize, train and equip his soldiers.
A report released by the Parliamentary Armed Forces Committee earlier this year noted that the German troops were “too little everything.”
It has long been underfunded, and much of the Army’s basic infrastructure, including barracks, is well below standard, says the Bundestag report.
It also comes when the Army is struggling to achieve recruitment targets. In 2018, Germany pledged to increase its permanent troops to 203,000 by 2025. This is the target date, later revised in 2031.
The Merz government is pondering the possibility of introducing forced military service.
The issue of manpower is also about Tiesler and BBK. “We are not staffed in emergencies,” he told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
“Perhaps you need mandatory military service or voluntary civil defense services, which allow the country’s civil and military service choices,” he said.
