Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner believes that the European Union should prepare for a possible total blackout, the risk of which has increased significantly due to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Tanner told about this in an interview with Die Welt.
"The probability that there will be a power outage in some parts of the European Union in the near future is very high. The question is not if it will happen, but when," said the head of the Austrian Defense Ministry.
She reminded that the scenario of a large-scale blackout in the EU was predicted by the Austrian military as early as 2020, and this risk has increased significantly due to the war in Ukraine.
"For Putin, hacker attacks on Western energy systems are a means of hybrid warfare. We should not pretend that this is only a theory. We must prepare for blackouts in Austria and in Europe," Tanner stressed.
The minister said that in Austria, the armed forces and the Ministry of the Interior are preparing for a possible blackout, conducting joint exercises and carrying out educational campaigns among the population.
"We regularly practice emergency power outage operations. Until 2025, we will invest only 180 million euros to expand 100 "self-sufficiency barracks" that have sufficient energy supply and can be operated with electricity," she added.