Norway to mandate bomb shelters in new civil defence plan
Norway plans to require all new buildings to have a bomb shelter as part of its efforts to boost crisis resilience of its civil society after neighbouring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The government in Oslo seeks to reverse a decision by lawmakers in 1998 to suspend such a requirement for all buildings with an area exceeding 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet), according to a white paper on ‘total preparedness’ published on Friday. The decision has meant that no new bomb shelters have been built in the Nordic nation since then.
‘It is unjustifiable in the current security policy situation to maintain the decision from 1998,’ the report said. Existing bomb shelters cover about 45% of Norway’s population, compared with about 90% in Finland, 80% in Denmark and 70% in Sweden, it said.
Norway’s efforts mirror a wider trend in the region where countries are taking steps to prepare for potential crises — not just of military character but also natural disasters and cyberattacks — including by stockpiling emergency supplies and making financial systems more resilient.
While Norway has already tightened legislation regarding foreign investments in strategic industries, the white paper also proposes further restrictions ‘in the context of regulatory development in the European Union.’
The government plans to follow the example of other Nordic countries on changing rules on pre-approval of buying properties in the vicinity of military installations and other critical infrastructure, as well as potentially setting up compulsory registration of property ownership to boost transparency.
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