Latvians’ individual preparedness for crisis situations is very low, and the weakest points are uncertainty and lack of practical knowledge about how to act, according to Roberts Kits, a researcher at the think tank LaSER.
“The situation regarding preparedness for crises is rather depressing. Last year our think tank conducted a crisis simulation exercise in Riga, and in our view the majority of people do not see their own individual responsibility, because they believe the state should take care of everything,” Kits admitted.
He believes broader public training programs are necessary.
Although the military exercise Namejs included a simulated civilian evacuation scenario, it was carried out on a very limited scale. There have also been isolated examples of limited evacuations and municipal training exercises, but not on the scale required by the current security situation.
“At the moment, the assumption is that people will be able to take care of themselves.
For example, Estonia increased the period of individual responsibility in crisis situations from 72 hours to 10 days. At the same time, we could theoretically increase our own preparedness requirement to one month, but if people do not have even the most basic skills and knowledge about what to do when a siren sounds, it will not help. We cannot build civil defense on assumptions,” the researcher stressed.
Kits also emphasized that coordination between civil protection plans and military plans is critically important.
As an example of what can happen when such plans are not aligned in practice, he pointed to the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the military brigade responsible for the territorial defense of Kyiv became trapped in traffic and could not advance because residents were fleeing the city, creating massive congestion on major transport routes.
Kits stressed that in crisis situations both critical infrastructure and the continuity of state institutions are essential, and that everyone must assume their own share of responsibility.
“All of this must be rehearsed in advance within a large-scale scenario, because if one link in the chain fails, the entire system can become paralyzed,” he explained.
“It is dangerous to think that somehow everything will be fine,” the researcher warned.
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