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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News
James Moorhouse
A member of the German government has issued a worrying statement to school teachers amid the growing threat of a third world war.
Donald Trump's trade tariffs are only the latest in a long list of reasons why countries continue to be at each other's throats and now, children in Germany are being urged to prepare properly ahead of a potential war.
International relations have been complicated in recent years, ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and geopolitical tensions are now almost at boiling point.
The EU has already warned 450,000,000 people to get their '72-hour survival kit' ready amid growing tensions across the continent and now the Interior Ministry in Germany has called for civil defence training in schools.
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Defence spokesperson Roderich Kiesewetter confirmed in a statement to Handelsblatt newspaper (via Daily Mail), that it was 'absolutely necessary' for schoolchildren to have sufficient training, calling them 'especially vulnerable and particularly affected in an emergency'.
There are also fears that Germany is less than prepared for war in comparison to Nordic countries in particular.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said: "Temporary crisis situations can be handled well with basic reserves." Meanwhile, Kiesewetter pointed out that Germany is 'very less resilient' with 'backward' crisis preparedness structures compared to the likes of Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the latter of which has reportedly been preparing citizens for the possibility of war with Vladimir Putin's Russia for several years.
The German government is also urging its citizens to follow the guidelines set out by the EU, which also suggests preparing a survival kit which includes bottled water, non-perishable food, a can opener, medication, a flashlight, important documents, cash, a phone charger, and a map, among other essentials.
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Carsten Breuer, the inspector general of Germany's army, has also made a worrying prediction regarding when she believes Russia could realistically attack NATO territory.
At a recent security conference in Berlin, he said: "According to our analyses, Russia is capable of attacking NATO territory in four to seven years."
Germany certainly isn't the only country preparing for this possibility, as the EU hopes to have all of its citizens equipped for 72 hours of self-sufficiency, while a former MI6 chief in the UK has also urged more preparedness among the people living in Great Britain.
Speaking to The Independent, Sir Alex Younger suggested that 'defence being a part of everyday life would bring broader benefits' and even claimed that former prime minister Rishi Sunak's idea of national service, might be necessary to change the public's perception.