The public shelters in Denmark are facing significant financial challenges in order to accommodate 3.6 million Danes. According to Lars Robetje, Vice Chairman of Danish Emergency Services (Danske Beredskaber) and Director of Roskilde Fire Department, this will require extensive investments.
An overview presented by Jyllands-Posten shows that the country’s shelters have a capacity for about 61% of the population. However, many of these shelters have not been maintained for many years, lack furnishings, and are often sealed off, explains Lars Robetje.
“They also need to be inspected for water and mold, so it will be associated with significant costs,” he says, adding that in Roskilde, there are 27 concrete cover trenches from World War II that have been sealed off for the past two decades.
In the 2000s, it was assessed that the need for shelters was minimal, leading to the removal of maintenance funds. “Politically, war was abolished back in the 2000s, and immediately after, the money we used for maintenance and inspection of the concrete cover trenches was removed,” says Lars Robetje.
According to the Emergency Preparedness Act, it is the responsibility of municipalities to ensure that shelters can be prepared when necessary. Although the shelters can be prepared, according to the emergency director, it will incur “massive costs.”
In addition, Lars Robetje questions whether this is the best use of resources. “Now, I’m not a military analyst, but as a professional in emergency services, I would say that there are a lot of other things we should focus on instead of our concrete cover trenches. For example, threats from hybrid warfare that could target our power supply and data traffic,” he says.