Norway issues stockpile warning to citizens amid rising Russia-US tensions

All I need are bunkers and beans

Today (18 Nov), Swedes received a copy of a pamphlet informing the population on how to prepare and cope for the event of war or any other unexpected crisis.

The pamphlet known as 'If crisis or war comes' already exists, but the government has updated and redistributed the leaflet in the wake of growing Russia-US tension.

Over the summer, Denmark emailed adults on what supplies they would need to survive a crisis for three days while fellow Nordic nation Finland has also just published fresh advice online.

Norway took a similar step to Sweden and printed millions of pamphlets advising citizens on how to survive on their own for a week in the event of extreme weather, war or other threats.

“We have sent out 2.2 million paper copies, one for each household in Norway,” said Tore Kamfjord, who is responsible for the campaign of self-preparedness at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB).

A list of essential supplies included long-life foods such as tins of beans, energy bars and pasta as well as medicines such as iodine tablets in case of a nuclear crisis.

Iodine tablets saturate the Thyroid gland, reducing the amount of radioactive iodine it absorbs, decreasing the risk of Thyroid cancer developing.

Nordic nations have always been sensitive to the prospect of war or crisis, with the first edition of 'If War Comes' being published in Sweden during World War Two.

But one message has been moved up from the middle of the booklet: “If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.”

Sweden joined NATO this year, deciding like Finland to apply after Moscow expanded its war in 2022.

Norway was one of the 12 founding members of the alliance.