Poland prepares for possible war scenarios. In fact, the proximity to Ukraine fuels fears of an extension of the war with Russia. Warsaw therefore does not want to be found unprepared for an escalation of the conflict and is already adopting measures to guarantee the protection of the population from the Kremlin’s bombings.
Mandatory air raid shelters in Poland
The new year begins with preparation for war scenarios. Preparation that sees a change starting from the building structure. Because the Warsaw government, led by the pro-Europeist Donald Tusk, has imposed from January 1st that property developers build bomb shelters in most new buildings. To fill serious gaps in civil protection against the Russian threat, the Tusk executive has allocated 16 billion zlotys (3.8 billion euros) in this year’s budget for the construction of shelters.
Already several local administrations, such as the municipality of Warsaw, have used their funds to renovate and expand existing shelters and structures. These also include metro stations. The mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, has started a project aimed at transforming the city subway into a shelter for 100 thousand people, equipped with camp beds, drinking water and blankets.
Currently, Poland, with 38 million inhabitants, has 300,000 places in air-raid shelters, while so-called “hideouts” and places of temporary refuge, such as metro stations and underground car parks, offer 48 million. To make it easier to locate and access these facilities, the Polish Interior Ministry last week launched a smartphone application and website to help people locate the nearest shelter in case of war or other emergencies. Once the user’s location has been detected, the system shows a map of the area with available shelters and can indicate the quickest route to reach them.
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Weaknesses in citizen protection
The point of inspiration for Poland remains Finland, which has around 50 thousand shelters. In September, presidential advisor Karol Nawrocki visited a shelter in Helsinki for 6 thousand people, equipped with a cafeteria, playground, volleyball court and gym, underlining the need to adopt similar structures also in Poland.
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the gaps in national defenses: although Poland allocates almost 5 percent of its GDP to military spending – a figure that is among the highest in NATO countries – investments in population protection have been scarce in recent years. Most of the shelters date back to the communist era and are today in very poor condition. Currently, only around 1,000 shelters in Poland are considered adequate, capable of protecting around 1.3 million people, just 3 percent of the population, compared to the 80 percent covered by Finnish shelters. Poland, which has suffered several Russian invasions in its history, fears being Moscow’s next target.
