Ursula von der Leyen: "Europe must prepare for a new era of simultaneous disasters"

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphasized the necessity for Europe to prepare for a reality in which fires, floods, earthquakes, and cyberattacks can occur simultaneously. The warning came after a summer in which fires tested the intervention capacity of European states. Brussels proposes a paradigm shift, moving from post-crisis intervention to prevention and preparedness. Climate change makes extreme phenomena more frequent and unpredictable, and intervention resources may be overwhelmed. Until now, the EU's civil protection mechanism has been activated ten times for fires, and over 600,000 hectares have burned this year.

The European Commission wants to use the lessons from previous crises to anticipate the next emergency situations. Furthermore, preparedness is not limited to natural disasters but also includes hybrid threats, such as cyberattacks. The future crisis preparedness plan will include early warning systems and will encourage citizens to be self-sufficient in the first 72 hours of a major crisis.