Civil protection

The Russian aggression in Ukraine has created a new reality in Europe and in the wider world. Therefore, the current approach of Estonia is no longer up to date or sufficient for protecting the lives and health of the population. A bigger contribution must be made to the development of military as well as non-military, i.e. civil protection.

The purpose of civil protection is to support the population in a crisis situation, including in the case of war, and to increase the preparedness of the population for coping independently in crises.

• warning messages
• rescue works
• evacuation
• finding shelter
• first aid and disaster medicine
• unavoidable social care
• psychosocial crisis assistance
• other assistance vital for the population

Civil protection is based on the ability of the population to protect themselves until help arrives and, if needed, help one another in the case of a crisis. In order to achieve this, different parties of the society must make a joint effort, with the people, communities, volunteers, local government units, and different state authorities playing important parts.

Estonia is developing social protection measures based on the risks for the protection of the population, which includes risk communication and trainings, including for increasing the capability of public authorities.