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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
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3 min read | |
Germany plans rapid expansion of outdated bunkers amid fears of Russian | |
aggression | |
By Sebastian Shukla, CNN | |
Updated: | |
9:57 AM EDT, Sun June 8, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Germany’s aging and decrepit bunker network is in need a major | |
overhaul, according to the head of the federal agency tasked with | |
nationwide civil protection in case of an attack. | |
The Federal Agency for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (BBK) | |
President Ralph Tiesler said in an interview with popular German | |
newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, “For a long time, there was a | |
widespread belief in Germany that war was not a scenario we needed to | |
prepare for. That has changed. We are concerned about the risk of a | |
major war of .” | |
Tiesler’s words represent a real fear, echoed across Europe, that | |
Russia could try to mount an attack on Europe again within four years. | |
That timeframe is widely regarded as the minimum period would need to | |
rearm after fighting a bloody and long campaign in . | |
Germany only has 580 bunkers, many of them not operational, the | |
newspaper report said. That number is down from nearly 2,000 that | |
existed during the Cold War. | |
Just 5% of the German population would currently be able to seek | |
shelter in the event of an attack, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. | |
Germany’s population is about 83 million people. | |
The civil protection agency chief said that he will upgrade tunnels, | |
metro stations, underground garages and basements of public buildings | |
to “quickly create one million shelter spaces,” as well as expand | |
the nation’s siren and notification systems. | |
Tiesler said his agency will be presenting a full plan for the revamp | |
and expansion in the summer but added that funding still needed to be | |
secured. | |
“New bunker systems with very high protection requirements cost a lot | |
of money and time,” said Tiesler. He noted that the BBK will likely | |
require “at least” 10 billion euros ($11billion) in the next four | |
years and a further 30 billion euros ($34 billion) in the following 10 | |
years to complete the overhaul. | |
There is some cause for optimism, though, for the German agency. | |
Friedrich Merz, before officially becoming chancellor, managed to | |
unlock half a trillion euros ($570 billion) in spending for Germany’s | |
defense, some of which the BBK would be eligible to receive. | |
However, given the scale of the task of updating the German armed | |
forces the allocation of money may be prioritized elsewhere. | |
Merz recently vowed to make Germany’s army the strongest in Europe, | |
but in order to meet that pledge, he will be required to spend huge | |
sums of money to modernize, train and equip soldiers. | |
A report released earlier this year from the parliament’s armed | |
forces commission pointed out that the | |
It has long been underfunded, and much of the basic infrastructure of | |
the army, including barracks, is well below standard, the Bundestag | |
report said. | |
It also comes as the army struggles to meet recruitment targets. In | |
2018, Germany committed to boosting its standing forces to 203,000 by | |
2025 — a target date that was later revised to 2031. The current | |
standing size of the Germany army is just 181,000. | |
Merz’s government is mulling the possibility of introducing mandatory | |
military service. | |
The issue of manpower also concerns Tiesler and the BBK. “We lack | |
personnel in an emergency,” he told the newspaper Sueddeutsche | |
Zeitung. | |
“Perhaps we need a mandatory military service or a voluntary civil | |
defense service… One that allows the choice between civilian and | |
military service for the country,” he said. | |
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