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EXCERPT:
HELSINKI, Finland — Given an 800-mile border with Russia and a history shaped by war, Finland has spent decades designing a culture to withstand crisis.
Beneath the streets of Helsinki, there’s an entire second city. Infrastructure currently used for daily life was built for the possibility of war. What, on the surface, may look like a metro station entrance actually leads to a bunker capable of housing thousands of people in case of emergency.
Until then, it’s put to use daily.
“People have learned to use also the underground premises and they know where the civil defense shelter in their own apartment building is, and people got used to it, so there is nothing traumatic about it,” explained Anna Lehtiranta, with the Helsinki City Rescue Department.
Finland is famous for the dual-use design of its emergency shelters. In peacetime, many operate as gyms, sports arenas, and even playgrounds.
“Preparedness is something that comes as a normal thing, it is in our genes, so we continue preparing ourselves for emergencies, even during the years of peacetime,” Lehtiranta told a CBN News team in Finland as a part of a recent media study tour sponsored by several NATO eastern flank countries.