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62% in Denmark
Across Europe, âarmed conflictâ now ranks among the top public concerns, alongside economic instability and energy security.
Why Eastern Europe Is Leading the Response
We are heading for a war Europe might loseâ: Continent preparing public for possible conflict â The Irish Times
While EU leaders broadly agree on the threat, action has been most decisive in Europeâs east.
Countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, and Sweden have taken visible steps to prepare their populationsâboth practically and psychologically.
Lithuania has begun developing so-called âdrone wallsâ along its borders, while working with Latvia to restore wetlands as natural defensive barriers. National awareness campaigns, resilience exercises, and public drills are now common.
Lithuaniaâs Interior Ministry distributed shelter maps and emergency hotline information. Latvia introduced mandatory national defence education in schools.
Poland built physical barriers along its border with Belarus and expanded security education programs. Some secondary schools now include firearm safety instruction for teenagers.
Finland, Estonia, and Sweden have revived Cold Warâera practices by publishing civil defence guides explaining how to respond during crises, power outages, or evacuations. Sweden even mailed updated âIf Crisis or War Comesâ brochures to every household in 2025.
Search data reflects rising concern. In countries closest to Russia, online searches such as âwhere is my nearest shelter?â and âwhat to pack for evacuation?â have surgedâparticularly in 2025.
What Brussels Is Doing Behind the Scenes
National governments are not acting alone.
At the EU level, Brussels has launched what may be the most ambitious defence coordination effort in its history.
European defence spending surpassed âŹ300 billion in 2024. Under the proposed 2028â2034 EU budget, an additional âŹ131 billion has been earmarked for aerospace and defenceâfive times more than in the previous budget cycle.
At the heart of the strategy is Readiness 2030, a roadmap endorsed by all 27 member states.
Its goals are practical and urgent:
Enable troop and equipment movement across EU borders within three days in peacetime
Reduce that to six hours during emergencies
Eliminate bureaucratic delays through a âMilitary Schengenâ system
To achieve this, the EU is identifying and upgrading around 500 critical infrastructure points, including bridges, tunnels, ports, and railways capable of supporting heavy military equipment.
The estimated cost ranges between âŹ70 and âŹ100 billion, funded through a mix of national budgets and EU programs such as the Connecting Europe Facility.
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