Sweden begins a sober search for more cemetery space in the event of war

GOTHENBURG, Sweden (AP) —

Funeral associations in Sweden want to acquire enough land for something they hope they will never have to do: bury thousands of people in the event of war.

The search follows recommendations from the National Secretariat of the Church of Sweden, which reflect crisis preparedness guidelines from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces.

The preparedness guidelines have been put in a new light by Sweden’s decision to join NATO and tensions with Russia in the Baltic Sea region.

Under the provisions of the Church of Sweden, supported by legal paragraphs in the Swedish Burial Act, burial societies are responsible for ensuring the availability of sufficient land to bury approximately 5 percent of the population within a parish, if necessary.

The Goteborg Burial Association, which operates in Sweden’s second largest city, is currently trying to take on the challenge of acquiring at least 40,470 square meters of land to ensure that in the event of war they can provide urgent coffin burials for such can handle 30,000 deaths. . This is in addition to another 60,700 square meters of land required for the construction of cemeteries for regular use in Gothenburg.

“The (recommendations) mean that we need more land for cemeteries and this is a phenomenon in the big cities, and a problem in the big cities, where land resources are scarce to begin with and not always sufficient to even meet the need for provide cemeteries. in times of calm and peace,” said Katarina Evenseth, senior advisor at the Goteborg Burial Association.

Together with the local municipality, which has a monopoly in making land use decisions in Gothenburg, the burial association has identified a vast area suitable for the construction of a large-scale cemetery for its intended purpose.

But a lengthy approval and construction process means it could take around a decade to complete, which could pose further challenges in uncertain times.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) continues to emphasize the importance of crisis preparedness and highlights the efforts of the Church of Sweden.

“As early as 2015, the government instructed several authorities to start planning civil protection again, and many organizations have started planning, with the Church of Sweden at the forefront of that planning,” said Jan-Olof Olsson ,Critical Infrastructure Protection. (CIP) expert at MSB.

“Unfortunately, we are being reminded to a greater extent that war can happen and that we simply have to be prepared for it,” Olsson said.

Sweden pursued a policy of neutrality from the beginning of the 19th century, including during the Second World War.

But public opinion changed sharply in 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading Sweden and Finland to apply to join the transatlantic alliance out of concern about the threat from their new aggressive Russian neighbor on the other side of the Baltic Sea.

Sweden and Finland sent updated civilian preparedness guides in November with instructions on how to survive in war. The guides are similar to those in Denmark and Norway, although they do not mention Russia by name.