Ursula von der Leyen It was no accident that she commissioned March 2024, preparation of the EU security report by Sauli Niinistö. Finland is famous for its well-functioning civil defense and good preparation of civil society for various types of threats. And this time the head of the European Commission did not mean the already inflected w EU by all means industrial production for the military.
Report on the EU's preparedness for crisis and war
– In all EU countries, people rely on the same in the event of a crisis: critical infrastructure, access to basic services – health, rescue, financial – as well as protection of civilians and the social fabric – said Niinistö, presenting the main theses of the report during a session of the European Parliament. As he emphasized, shocks in one country can spread to various sectors of its economy and then spread to other EU countries, which is why security should be understood as a common thing. – Sometimes in the EU we forget that security is the pillar of everything that is important to us – said the former Finnish president. He also emphasized that the openness of the societies of EU countries makes them susceptible to the actions of “hostile actors” who try to undermine the foundations of democracy with “hybrid campaigns” for which they are almost not responsible.
“Putin sees the West and Westerners as weak”
Therefore, among others In the report, Niinistö proposes “strengthening intelligence cooperation within the EU towards a full-fledged EU intelligence cooperation service.” He stressed that he was not talking about “a CIA-style agencybut for better cooperation so that the EU authorities have the best possible solutions at their disposal information intelligence.” The former president of Finland also said that the EU cannot only react to crises – as in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine, but must be “proactively ready” for long-term droughts, new pandemics, cyberattack or sabotage on a European scale resulting in a blackout or even armed aggression against one or more Member States.
– Vladimir Putin he has long made it clear that considers the West and Westerners to be weak. We need to change its perception, he said, assessing that the current model of European security is poor Russia turned to dust in February 2022. And since the ruler of the Kremlin is switching the country to a war economy, the EU must undertake the “monumental task” of increasing the production capacity of the defense industry, rationalizing it – e.g. reducing the variety of equipment. And develop – as Fin clearly emphasized – a scenario for the behavior of both the EU itself and NATOin an accident attack on a member state.
Civil policy is key to defense
Defense of Europe – said Niinistö in the European Parliament – it is not only combat capabilities and border protection. It is also a whole range of civilian policies that become crucial at such a moment: defense industry, protection of civilians, humanitarian aid, troop mobility, medical support, economic resources – as well as diplomacy and sanctions. – We need to define carefully, within the framework EU-NATO cooperationhow to support together attacked member countryusing all the means that the European Union has at its disposal, emphasized the former president of Finland, adding that “if one country loses its security, we all have problems.” He added that the threats – which were best demonstrated by, among others, Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the last one a series of natural disasters in Spain – they are not hypothetical, but real, and what's worse – they can happen simultaneously.
Therefore, a key aim of the recommendations of his report is to ensure that the EU's structures will function regardless of the circumstances and that “civilian and military crisis response services will be able to cooperate seamlessly – this also applies to the EU and NATO“. Individual citizens must also know their place and tasks in the response chain. As well as private companies, which, in cooperation with the EU authorities, can, for example, point out weaknesses in their supply chains – so that Brussels can cushion any difficulties by stockpiling supplies for a rainy day.
“Readiness” in every household
As part of the so-called Preparedness Union – this formulation is in official EU documents – key social and government functions that must maintain business continuity in all circumstances should be indicated, Niinistö said. His plan suggests that too individual households should participate in this chain of combat readiness. The report, published at the turn of October and November, refers to research according to which 95 percent of EU citizens believe that their country is at risk of at least one crisis. What's worse – more than half of respondents do not feel well prepared for any disasters, and 46 percent would not know what to do in such a case.
According to Niinistö, the authorities should create jobs in the security, cyber defense and armed forces sectors so that EU citizens feel that they are part of this collective security and that they also create it for themselves – as it is, according to Niinistö, in Finland: “It is not some model structure, it is the attitude presented by citizens, […] based on people's trust and belief that their political community is worth defending.
How to impregnate society against fake news
The report assigned a huge role to the media and educating citizens in how to perceive them skillfully, so that they do not succumb to disinformation and fake news – and did not lose trust in state institutions and democratic procedures, such as elections. The report points to the need to strengthen “citizens' ability to recognize reliable sources of information regarding crisis response and reject disinformation.” As an example of what happens when there is a lack of trust in the state and the ability to analyze sources, and people question the veracity of all information, even true ones, the document points out vaccine skepticism during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Media-savvy people are the first line of defense against foreign information manipulation and interference,” says Sauli Niinistö in the report.
Empty parliament benches
MEPs from all factions accepted the Niinistö report with cross-party agreement on the diagnosis of the situation, rare in the European Parliament. The division became visible when politicians in their speeches moved on to ways of resolving the situation and whether the burden of strengthening the EU's preparedness and resilience to crises should rest more on community bodies or on nation states. For being so important report commissioned by the European Commissionhowever, the temperature of the proceedings was not too high. Perhaps because the former president of Finland spoke – as recorded by cameras – to an almost empty room.
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle.