civil protection
DRK: Funds need to be tripled for civil protection
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and Christian Reuter, Secretary General of the German Red Cross, visit emergency shelters for refugees on the Berlin-Tegel site. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
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Politicians speak of a turning point in security policy – but according to the DRK, this must also apply to civil protection. The organizational potential is there, but the money is lacking.
According to the German Red Cross (DRK), Germany is inadequately prepared for civil disasters.
Actually, in the case of large-scale, non-military catastrophes, one percent of the population should be able to be supplied, said DRK Secretary General Christian Reuter of the “Welt am Sonntag”. That would be a good eight million people. “In fact, we have just put the first facility to supply 5,000 people into operation,” said Reuter. The turning point in security policy proclaimed after Russia’s attack on Ukraine must also apply to civil protection. “Instead of the 700 million euros per year that are now in the federal budget, it would have to be two billion to be able to finance everything that is necessary.”
DRK: “Germany can crisis”
Reuter added: “In civil protection, we live off the scarce reserves that Germany has built up in the past. We saw that in the fight against the pandemic, the reception of refugees in 2015 and the flood disaster last year. Much of what is missing today we already had, and it was abandoned after the end of the Cold War because we thought we were living on an island of bliss.”
At the same time, he also sees a lot of organizational potential: “Germany can handle a crisis, but we could be much better if we used the know-how and resources that we have better.”