Finland. Shelters. Bartosz Żurawicz about the report “Finland. In constant readiness”

In Helsinki there are more places in shelters than the inhabitants of this capital. Let this be a measure of their preparation – noted on TVN24 Bartosz Żurawicz, author of the report about Finland, which is famous for his extremely extensive civil defense infrastructure.

Bartosz Żurawicz, author of the “Finland. In constant readiness” available on TVN24+ he told TVN24 about his visit to this Nordic country.

The TVN24.pl journalist talked to the residents about why the locals think that it is worth going to the army and – if necessary – fight for their homeland. He also shows real underground cities and shows a country where almost everything is calculated to defend against the invader. He also talks to representatives of the Finnish army, who ensure that Finland has not joined NATO out of fear.

Marking of the shelters “visible on almost every corner of the street”

Żurawicz explained that Finland in the event of aggression on the site Russia He has been preparing in principle since the end of the winter war – at the end of November 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland. After a few months of fighting in 1940, a peace agreement was concluded in which the Helsinki managed to maintain independence, but the country lost part of its territory.

He noted that then “a total defense concept appeared”. – This gigantic network of shelters is one of the many elements of the program, which is to make Finland not be unpublished – added Żurawicz.

He also explained that in this country no expenditure on civil defense and reinforcement in connection with the commonly prevailing in the 90s of the last century were not reduced that PO the fall of the Berlin Wall There is an end to history and no war will explode in Europe. – What I had the opportunity to observe is the fruit of many decades of work, and this work brings impressive results, because walking around Helsinki – but I also had the opportunity to visit other Finnish cities – in principle these characteristic markings (shelters), i.e. this blue triangle on an orange background, is visible on almost every corner of the street – he said.

– There are more places in shelters in Helsinki than there are residents from this capital. Let this be a measure of their preparation – pointed out Żurawicz.

Finnish shelters “must always be double application”

The journalist also told about his visit to the Merihak shelter. He pointed out that this is a popular underground space for residents that can be used as a place for family walks and recreation, and at the same time “within three days it can change into a giant shelter.”

Żurawicz also shared conclusions from a conversation with the coordinator of the Finnish civil protection program Ira Pasi. It shows that “shelters that are in Finland at every step must always have double use.” He pointed out as one example of a sauna. – The point is to make it economical, but the point is that people would be there all the time, so that they can watch all the time if everything is fine, so that there is no such situation that something will be technically uncomfortable – he explained.

He also recalled the Finnish regulation, according to which every building owner, which has over 1,200 square meters, must build a shelter. “He must also keep him in a high standard and simply comes down to the fact that he checks if such an administrator fills his function,” he supplemented.

In turn, local governments also build shelters outside large urban centers. – The assumption is that every resident can find shelter and, above all, does not have to move to this shelter – emphasized Żurawicz.

Civil shelters in Poland

However, talking about the infrastructure of civil defense in Poland, the journalist recalled his conversations with experts, “who warned against moving a certain idea that if we have a metro line, she certainly has shelter properties.”

As a difference between Poland and Finland, he pointed out that there are no clearly marked standards related to the strength of such a structure in our country.

He reminded that in 2022 the fire brigade indicated over 220,000 places of a temporary shelter in Poland, but in a report, which she pointed out Supreme Audit Officethe technical condition of shelters was not analyzed.

– So what we do when we had the third anniversary of the invasion (Russia on February 24 Ukraine)? We wonder where the shelters are, how many there are and where they need to be built – summed up Bartosz Żurawicz.

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