The German government has been accused of fear-mongering after reports surfaced that the country’s new civil defence strategy includes a recommendation for residents to stock up on 10 days’ worth of groceries in case of a catastrophe.
According to a report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper published Sunday, the plan recommends that people stockpile enough food, water, money and medicine to keep them comfortable until the government could respond in the event of a national emergency. Germany’s Cabinet is set to approve the plan by Wednesday.
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The precautionary measures also reportedly demand that people “prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future.”
It also mentions the necessity of a reliable alarm system, better structural protection of buildings and more capacity in the health system.
Details of the reported plan come on the heels of several deadly attacks in the European country.
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On July 18 an Afghan teen asylum seeker injured four people with an axe on a train in Wurzburg. This was followed by a failed suicide bombing that killed the bomber in the German town of Ansbach and a machete attack in which a Syrian refugee claimant, suspected of being an ISIS sympathizer, killed a woman and injured four others in late July. Germany also introduced tougher anti-terror measures this month.
But the German government is rejecting any accusations of fear-mongering.
Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said Monday the strategy is part of a long-planned update to a paper last revised in 1995, and not a reaction to current security concerns. However, he wouldn’t confirm details ahead of its approval.
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German officials added that the government has long offered such tips, albeit little-noticed, on how to prepare for emergencies.
The opposition Left Party’s co-leader in parliament, Dietmar Bartsch, argued that a call to hoard supplies could “completely unsettle people.”
– With files from The Associated Press
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