Swimming pools, playgrounds and amusement parks: Finland’s underground facilities that can be doubled as bomb shelters, Europe intensified its preparations after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Finland has a 1,340 km (830 miles) border with Russia. Its network of civil defense shelter is an integral part of its preparation strategy that dates back to before World War II.
Blasted a few dozen meters below the granite bedrock in Helsinki, people of all ages swim and splash in the pool or relax in the sauna in the spongy Itquescus swimming hall.
The complex is one of Finland’s 50,500 civil defense shelters, with approximately 4.8 million of its 5.6 million population.
Designed to accommodate up to 3,800 people, water can be poured into the water within 72 hours and turned into a bulletproof shelter.
“It is the world’s largest civic defence shelter that promotes swimming halls,” Teemu Raatikainen, who over the last 30 years, proudly explained that he toured for AFP.
Finland’s security strategy based on long-term investments in military and preparedness, including civilian shelters, has attracted international interest after the deterioration of the security situation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the entire Europe in 2022.
“We always have this kind of multipurpose use – peacetime use and wartime use,” explained Jarkko Hayrinen, senior rescue officer of the Finnish Ministry of Interior.
– Fire Tunnel –
The Merrijaka Sanctuary in central Helsinki boasts 6,000 people space, and features an underground playground, several courts and a gym.
“The shelters are well maintained because people use them during normal times,” Helinin said.
Matti Pesu, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute for International Affairs, said that the Finns’ “cultural way of thinking” was that after joining the NATO military alliance in security, the “trademark” between Finland and Finland became “trademarks”.
He added: “And civil defense shelter is a truly tangible symbol of how authorities prepare to protect citizens in emergencies.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior guests such as Denmark King Frederik X and Queen Mary recently conducted a guided tour through the zigzag explosion tunnel at the Mehkha Shelter.
– Long-standing tradition –
“The first bill for building defense shelters had begun in 1939, two weeks before the start of the Winter War,” Helinin said.
He added: “Finland was not ready to defend civilians during the war, which is a difficult lesson for us.”
Now that the Nordic country has bomb shelters to protect nearly all its citizens, Helsinki provides space for 900,000 people, enough to host all the residents of the capital and thousands.
Finland’s largest public shelter is designed to withstand explosions, building collapses, radiation and toxic substances, mainly located in densely populated areas.
The law requires that buildings or house complexes with more than 1,200 square meters be owned by bomb shelter.
Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Israel also have other countries with extensive contact with bunkers.
“All of these countries are combined with a neutral traditional or strategically difficult position,” Pesu noted.
In Finland, all men must serve in the military, and women’s voluntary recruitment can quickly mobilize about 280,000 soldiers, while the total military reserve is about 900,000.
On April 1, the country announced that it would pose a security threat to Russia, increasing defense spending to at least 3% of GDP.
ANK/JLL/ACH/RJM
