Germany has been increasingly focused on defence on its own soil since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 raised the spectre of a wider escalation on the European continent.

In a sign of how urgent the need for preparations is, a top NATO military official on Monday urged businesses to prepare for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly, in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China.

One company, Bunker Schutzraum, which specialises in building bunkers and shelters, remembers an increase of people interested in buying a bunker when he talked to Reuters-TV back in April 2022.

In 2022 already the company said they experienced a jump of at least 300% in orders. Under Operation Plan Germany, which German media reported on earlier this month, the federal and state governments, army, security authorities and emergency services are coordinating how they could defend the country in the event of a conflict.

As part of the plan, which is confidential, state army representatives are regularly invited to inform businesses about what general points they should consider in their preparations, a German defence ministry spokesperson said last week.

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