News

Opposition parties want to assess Danish bunker capacity in light of rising threat

Emergency agency maintain there is enough room for 4.7 million people to shelter, but this is based on an assessment carried out in 2002

Armelle Delmelle

With the war raging in Ukraine, an increasing number of people fear what would happen if it reached us in any way.

The opposition parties want Denmark to be ready. That is why they have asked for an assessment of the nation’s bunker capacity: to find out how many people could take shelter in them in safety from an enemy attack.

The last assessment was carried out in 2002. Twenty years later, the parties reason, it might be a good time to map out how many bunkers there are in each municipality and how many people could stay in them.

According to the right-wing newspaper Jyllands-Posten, Venstre and Konservative have asked the defence minister, Morten Bødskov, to do exactly this.

80 percent of the population can be sheltered
The Danish Emergency Management Agency maintains there is room for about 4.7 million people in the bunkers and safe rooms. This represents 80 percent of the 5.8 million inhabitants of Denmark.

These bunkers can be used in the event of, for example, explosions, a poisonous gas cloud or war.

There are around 950,000 places accessible to the public. The other 3.75 million are in basements under private buildings.

However, the agency’s figures date back to 2002, and it is feared that many of the bunkers have been dismantled and no new ones built to replace them.

Many rooms closed
“A lot of bunkers have been dismantled since the end of the Cold War, so I would ask the defence minister for an updated list of the bunkers we have, municipality by municipality, along with the location and the number of places,” Venstre emergency spokesman Peter Juel-Jensen told Jyllands-Posten.

According to him, the area of preparedness has for many years been neglected.

Niels Flemming Hansen, the defence spokesman for Konservative, agrees. He says Denmark should take inspiration from Sweden and give citizens access to an online map to see the location of all the bunkers.

TOP STORIES

  • Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    After more than a decade living in Denmark, Russell shares why she made the move, how she’s coping, what she already misses, and the exciting new projects she’s working on. “It’s been a very tough decision. I love Denmark, and it will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says.

  • Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    The new Gefion AI supercomputer is one of the world’s fastest and will accelerate research and provide new opportunities in Danish academia and industry.

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs