European Union citizens should be prepared to meet their basic needs independently for the first 72 hours of an emergency until public services can organize relief, according to new guidelines.

Hadja Lahbib, the European Commissioner for Equality, Crisis Management and Preparedness, presented the non-binding advisory guidance at the European Civil Protection Forum.

In her remarks on the initiative, Lahbib said: “When a disaster strikes, the first hours can be vital. Every European must know what to do, how to protect their family and how to help others. Preparedness begins in our homes, our schools and our communities.”

The Brussels leadership explained that the new measures are prompted by Europe facing increasingly frequent and complex crises.

Under the recommendations, the European Commission advised citizens to stockpile essential supplies and keep pre-packed emergency grab bags ready.

These steps aim to ensure that individuals can address their primary necessities independently during the first three days of a crisis, before state aid is mobilized.

The guidelines also encompass three additional priority areas: preparing children for emergency situations, making safety measures accessible to individuals with disabilities, and ensuring the public is better informed about potential threats.

Citing the 2001 founding anniversary of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the European Commission also proposed designating 23 October as “EU Preparedness Day” each year starting in 2027.

EU member states are preparing for an extensive hybrid attack scenario that could result in casualties, according to a Politico report citing European diplomats and officials.

The report noted that divisions have emerged within the EU over the bloc’s security role and whether its initiatives duplicate the functions of NATO.

According to the same report, ambassadors from the 27 EU member states held closed-door meetings focusing on deploying emergency response teams and allocating resources from EU funds to an affected country.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in 2022, both the EU and NATO intensified their preparations for a potential military confrontation with Russia.

In its “White Paper on European Defence – Preparedness 2030”, presented in March 2025, the European Commission identified Russia as one of the primary threats to European security.

The document outlines plans to boost defence production and improve air and missile defence, unmanned systems, and military mobility.

Meanwhile, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have begun drafting contingency action plans for a potential Russian attack, including measures for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The three Baltic states decided in May 2025 to cooperate in the field of civil defence.

Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, head of the German Army, also stated that Berlin must be prepared for a Russian attack by 2029 or earlier.

On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed in a statement in September that Moscow is not preparing for war with Europe.

Putin stated that Moscow has no such plans and that there are no justifications or real reasons to escalate the situation with Europe.

Criticising the European stance, Putin described rhetoric from European nations regarding a Russian threat and the necessity of preparing for war as a “provocation” and a “deliberate incitement of the situation.”

The Kremlin also noted that the EU is turning into a “military-political-economic bloc” by spending vast budgets to weaponize its economies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that statements by EU nations regarding the risk of war with Russia are driving European rearmament, which could ultimately become a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

In earlier remarks, Lavrov assessed that “if Europe attacks the Russian Federation, it will be a completely different war, and it will be over very quickly.”

Plans for a meeting in Paris between Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and French far-right National Rally (RN) figurehead Marine Le Pen remain uncertain.

Farage’s planned visit to France, which he announced for October as part of an effort to establish ties with figures on the European right before the end of the year, has yet to be officially scheduled by Le Pen’s camp.

Speaking to Politico on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive inter-party relations, four National Rally officials familiar with Le Pen’s schedule said no visit to the party leader had been planned.

Multiple party figures said they saw no urgency in drawing media attention to relations with Reform UK or to the migration pact signed in September.

One official noted that the “costs and benefits” of holding a meeting with Farage needed to be weighed.

Political circumstances for both parties have shifted markedly since the prospect of a meeting with Le Pen, widely viewed as the candidate most likely to win the first round of the 2027 French presidential election, was first mooted.

Jordan Bardella, the National Rally’s second-in-command, attended Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham in early September as guest of honour.

Bardella and Farage announced an agreement proposing the return to France of all migrants reaching the UK through unauthorised Channel crossings in small boats.

The proposal triggered a backlash across different political factions in France, where critics questioned why the country should accept the return of asylum seekers.

Internal problems also emerged within Reform UK during the Birmingham conference.

Reform UK, which had maintained its polling lead over the Labour Party led by Andy Burnham, who took over as prime minister from Keir Starmer, was shaken by an undercover investigation published on the eve of the conference.

The development, which raised fresh questions over the party’s financial structure, led to the resignation of Farage’s two most senior aides.

Labour subsequently recovered in the polls, while a rise in the Conservative Party’s share of the vote began to challenge Reform UK’s second-place standing.

The initial announcement that Farage would travel to France to meet Le Pen before the end of October was also made at the Birmingham conference in early September.

Referring to a trip to Paris after Bardella delivered a speech in English, Farage said: “The only downside is I think they’re going to invite me to Paris, and I will have to speak French, but never mind, we’ll get round it.”

However, no official invitation has been confirmed.

As October drew to a close and it became clear that Farage would not pay a return visit to the National Rally’s conference in Orleans, a senior Reform UK official maintained that the meeting was on the calendar for this year.

The leadership in Paris does not confirm that schedule.

The four officials familiar with Le Pen’s plans said they were unaware of any scheduled visit for Farage before Christmas. One of Le Pen’s advisers suggested that a meeting could instead be offered with Bardella, whose standing inside the party has weakened in recent months.

Questioning the merits of the party leader appearing alongside Farage, another adviser to Le Pen said: “We need a bit more time to think through the costs and benefits.”

Thibaut Francois, an official with the National Rally’s European Parliament delegation, said that “regular contacts” with Reform UK continued and that the two parties would meet “very soon”, though he did not clarify whether that would take place this year.

A senior Reform UK official said: “Reform’s primary objective is to become battle-ready for British elections; parading on the international stage right now would add nothing to the UK message.”

Charles-Henri Gallois, an economic adviser to Bardella, argued that there was no need for further contact between the two parties, asserting that the migration agreement was “ready and waiting to be implemented” should both parties come to power.

“There is no need to discuss this further,” Gallois told Politico. “Critics of the agreement do not understand migration flows. This agreement is entirely in France’s interest.”

With French voters wary of a UK-style exit, Le Pen has long distanced herself from efforts to pull France out of the European Union.

Jean-Yves Camus, a far-right specialist at the Jean-Jaures Foundation think-tank, said: “Farage still supports Brexit, whereas Le Pen abandoned the idea [of Frexit] because it was too frightening for French voters. Donald Trump’s defeat in the midterms will also reinforce Le Pen’s distrust of Trumpism and its European counterparts.”

The level of internal support within the National Rally for the migration deal signed by Bardella and Farage was a subject of debate even as it was being concluded.

Since the party conference in September, Bardella’s position has continued to weaken following antisemitism allegations, which he has firmly denied.

Before reaching the agreement with Bardella, Farage had proposed launching “the largest military operation in the Channel since the Second World War” to push small boats back to the French coast.

A figure close to Le Pen told Politico at the time: “Why would we take [them] back to France if they are not French?”

Following a consensus that Germany should remain in the EU, the AfD has now pledged active participation in NATO.

According to a position paper recently published by the leadership of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, NATO is described as “the strongest military alliance in the world”.

The party aims “to further develop this alliance together with the US and our European partners”.

The US under President Donald Trump is viewed by the AfD parliamentary group as the “most important Western partner”, as foreign policy spokesman Markus Frohnmaier emphasised.

Frohnmaier describes the US intervention in Venezuela as “understandable in terms of realpolitik” and praises the Trump administration for resolutely supporting “the conservative renaissance of the West”.

At the same time, the AfD is pushing for the normalisation of relations with Russia and, in particular, the reactivation of the Nord Stream pipelines, potentially in cooperation with US companies.

All of this is to be raised at a German-American-Russian “summit” in Abu Dhabi this spring; the AfD parliamentary group plans to organise this summit jointly with “special advisers” to the US and Russian presidents.

AfD fully backs US policy on Cuba and Venezuela

In the new position paper on transatlantic relations, the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag adopts a fundamentally highly favourable stance towards the policies of the Trump administration.

The AfD states that the White House is pursuing a “conservative Western renaissance” that will end “woke ideology”.

According to the party, this contributes to “preserving Europe as a Western cultural space”.

In addition, Washington’s actions aimed at securing its “global hegemony in the Western Hemisphere”, namely across the Americas, including the US invasion of Venezuela, the blockade of Cuba, and threats against Panama, are deemed legitimate. The paper states: “We welcome this reorientation in US foreign policy.”

According to the AfD, the invasion of Venezuela in particular is “understandable in terms of realpolitik, regardless of how it is assessed under international law”.

Nevertheless, the AfD wants Washington to end its “global interventionist policy” “beyond the Western Hemisphere”.

On the issue of Greenland, which is geographically considered part of the Americas and therefore of the “Western Hemisphere” but is also claimed by the EU, the AfD document states that Berlin should cooperate more closely with Washington and demand access to the island’s natural resources “within the framework of joint ventures”.

Backing for NATO and German remilitarisation

Furthermore, the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag explicitly commits itself to NATO in the new paper.

The document states, “NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world,” adding, “together with the US and our European neighbours, we want to further develop it as a defence alliance.”

In this context, as confirmed by Markus Frohnmaier, the foreign policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, the US is described as the “most important Western partner”.

Like many other AfD politicians, Frohnmaier built close ties with the Trump administration over the past year and is currently developing these relations further.

The AfD document explicitly welcomes the withdrawal of US troops from Europe, which Trump has been gradually advancing.

At the same time, it states that it is “imperative to compensate” for this withdrawal “with an increase in the number of German soldiers”.

The AfD had already openly supported the dramatic military expansion required for this purpose in its recently presented European policy strategy paper.

The AfD’s overt support for NATO also comes at a time when the military alliance has initiated a process of “Europeanisation”.

The aim is to systematically increase the share of German and other European soldiers as well as weapons systems. This will expand the control exercised by European powers, and especially Germany, over the alliance.

AfD seeks German access to Ukrainian natural resources

On Monday, Frohnmaier and two other AfD members of the Bundestag presented a “working paper on German-Russian relations and the war in Ukraine”.

According to the document, the war is described as “a tragedy that must be ended as quickly as possible”.

Arguing that the federal government must cut material support to Ukraine to convince Kyiv to enter into serious peace negotiations with Russia, the AfD members urged the government “not to adopt Ukraine’s maximalist positions”.

According to the AfD politicians, Ukraine regaining Crimea, for example, is “entirely unrealistic”.

In addition, the AfD demands that Ukraine “must become a member of neither NATO nor the European Union”.

According to the party, Germany should advocate for “Ukraine to become a neutral state once again”.

Regarding the security guarantees sought by Kyiv, the document states that Germany should not provide them and must on no account deploy troops to Ukrainian territory.

However, the prospect of deploying UN peacekeepers to Ukraine is welcomed. Non-belligerent states, such as India, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia, should contribute to securing Ukrainian territory.

In return for the support provided by Berlin, Kyiv should be required to grant access to raw materials such as rare earth elements, other metals, and natural gas.

German-US partnership proposed for Nord Stream

On Russia, the AfD demands a complete policy reversal, including the lifting of all sanctions, the reintegration of Russia into the G7 to recreate the G8, and the resumption of Russian energy imports.

This applies particularly to pipeline gas. Frohnmaier said on Monday, “For us, one of the central goals of German energy sovereignty is that Nord Stream can be recommissioned as part of the system.”

The idea of reopening the Nord Stream pipelines in the long term, and even supplying gas to Europe in the short term via the legacy pipeline network traversing Ukrainian territory, was discussed between Russian and US negotiators in September.

In this context, the Trump administration plans to bring in a US company as an intermediary. Although the official rationale is to circumvent EU sanctions, in reality it is so that revenues from the gas deal can be channelled to the US, potentially to a member of the extended Trump family or an oligarch close to them.

Frohnmaier explicitly backed such an arrangement but is pushing for Germany to secure a larger share of the profits.

The AfD politician explained, for example, that a “German-American operating company” could be established instead of a purely US operating company.

AfD plans Abu Dhabi summit with US and Russia

As the next concrete step, the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag wants a “trilateral summit” to be organised with US and Russian representatives.

Frohnmaier said on Monday that the summit could take place in Abu Dhabi, noting that talks could be envisaged “at the level of special advisers”.

On the Russian side, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian wealth fund and Vladimir Putin’s special representative for economic cooperation, has been informed of the plans; Dmitriev is ready to attend the meeting.

Frohnmaier held talks with Dmitriev in early June on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

Dmitriev later shared a photograph with Frohnmaier on X, stating that he looked forward to “building a great future together with the AfD, the most popular party in Germany”.

The Russian representative suggested to Frohnmaier that they “restart the Russia-Germany-US business dialogue”.

Dmitriev is also involved in US-Russia talks on new Russian natural gas exports to the EU or the resumption of operations on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Whether the Trump administration will agree to the Abu Dhabi meeting remains unclear. Frohnmaier indicated that he hopes Dmitriev can persuade Trump to attend.