Norway prepares evacuation plan in case of Russian invasion

Norway has begun assessing areas that may require civilian evacuation plans in the event of war. This was stated in a comment to the newspaper VG said elisabeth Aarseter, Head of the Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB).

"The DSB has started a new assessment of which areas of Norway should develop plans for the evacuation and relocation of civilians in the event of war, the so-called military evacuation. We are doing this in close cooperation with the armed forces and police," the official said.

These are areas that are geographically close to Russia or areas where military facilities are located, she clarified. According to media reports, meetings have already been held with local authorities in Finnmark (a region in northern Norway) to plan military evacuation.

The lessons learned from Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine are partly the backdrop for new assessments of the need for mass evacuation in some parts of Norway, the article says.

The DSB should also take into account Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy supply and other civilian infrastructure in its planning.

"Based on the observations that Russia is also attacking civilian targets in Ukraine, we are also looking at whether we need to think more broadly about what could also be attacked in Norway," Aarseter said.

Municipalities have an important responsibility to support state authorities in conducting evacuations in times of war, the head of the DSB said.

The agency is also studying which areas of Norway may be suitable as municipalities to receive refugees as part of evacuation plans.

"The municipalities for relocation will be located where we believe the risk of war is lower and where the government believes there are suitable municipalities. In this work, we will, among other things, assess the potential of municipalities in the areas of healthcare, housing and education," the official said.

• On December 11, NATO Secretary General called the Alliance the following goal of Russia and said that member states are already in danger.
• The Prime Minister of Finland believes that Russia will move its troops to the borders of NATO countries after a possible peace agreement on Ukraine.