While the European chancelleries are asleep, still chasing the brain-dead follies of the Germans about the impossibility of a common debt, Sauli Niinistö, former President of the Republic of Finland, is giving Europe a wake-up call: conflict and climate: the EU is not prepared for the worst’; Europe’s defense (and threats) report; ‘Attacks and pandemics? A 72-hour supply in every home’.

The Finnish word sisu is hard to translate. It can be done with perseverance. With resilience. Or with willpower. Or even better, all these words together.Because sisu has to do with people's souls, with what they have in them that allows them to withstand everything and everyone, especially in the most desperate of times.

It is this strength that allows one to hope against all hope. To respond to what seems impossible, but becomes reality. The word was used by the Finns to give themselves strength during the Winter War against the Soviet Union, and is now being used to prepare for the times to come. And they will not be easy, at least according to what we read in Safer Together.

Strengthening Europe's Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness, the report prepared for the European Commission by Sauli Niinistö, former President of the Republic of Finland.
As Europeans, we need to be ready for any scenario (especially the worst ones), be it war, climate or pandemic. And to do that, we need to change the way we think. Not least because our adversaries have "targeted us by looking for weaknesses in our defenses, by exploiting our political divisions, and by trying to use every weapon against us".

Today's world is not without danger. On the contrary. It is full of the unexpected, but "if we prepare for the events we can foresee, we will be better able to deal with the unexpected. Like a possible war with Russia, for example, which "has already expanded its industrial and military production capacity and increased its armed forces," despite major losses in Ukraine. But not only that. "The rhetoric of 'permanent war' against the West, the militarization of Russian society, and plans to expand its military presence along its northwestern border and in the Arctic all point to an increased risk of possible aggression against the EU and NATO."

And Europe would not know how to defend itself. In fact, the report says: "We do not have a definitive plan in case of aggression against a member country. And it is time to think about it. Because what until recently seemed impossible - a war on the Old Continent - became a reality on February 24, 2022, with the invasion of Ukraine. In addition to a common defense, European countries will have to start sharing more and more intelligence information until there is a "full-fledged EU service for intelligence cooperation".

But these are the macro plans for which, among other things, adequate funding is lacking.
In the event of a crisis, each citizen will have to do his or her part (and today 58 percent of the population say they are unprepared), starting with stocking up on supplies that will allow them to survive for at least 72 hours. But first, there must be a change in attitude. A change in mindset that requires new ways of thinking, planning and ultimately acting. Everyone will have to develop their own sisu. Before it is too late.