[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Sweden's mental health helplines have been flooded with calls from youths scared by the prospect of war after top defence officials said citizens must ready themselves for a potential armed conflict.
Children's rights organisation Bris said its phone operators reported a huge uptick in the number of callers worried about war coming to Sweden, with spokeswoman Maja Dahl slamming the government's apparent lack of preparation around the alarming announcement made at the weekend.
Speaking at Sweden's annual 'Folk och Försvar' (Society and Defence) conference in Sälen this past weekend, Sweden's civil defence minister declared 'war could come to Sweden' and urged citizens to join voluntary defence organisations.
But Bohlin's rousing speech, in which he took note of his country's hotly anticipated accession to NATO this year and called on ordinary citizens to ask themselves 'who are you if war comes?', has largely been received as an uncomfortable, but necessary recognition of the uncertain security landscape facing Europe amid mounting conflicts worldwide. |