Don't panic!
It's the Interior Minister's job to be alarmist. For decades, ministers have warned of catastrophe scenarios and made obviously unconstitutional demands. Wolfgang Schäuble wanted to shoot down hijacked commercial aircraft. Hans-Peter Friedrich came up with a "super right" to trump all other fundamental protections. Such extreme positions are often based on the assumption that the Interior Minister has everything to lose in case something horrible happens, but gains little by holding back. Less important is if these proposals would enhance actual security, which is a feeling more than anything.
Testing the populist waters
Thomas de Maiziere has shown more judgement. However he, too, tests the populist waters now and then. On television, he's insulted refugee taxi drivers. In conjunction with his counterparts on the state level, he's released a list of security demands that even he knows is not realistic. Then he said he preferred not specifying the true extent of the dangers lurking, for fear Germans would never sleep again. He's hardly convincing, but de Maiziere has a knack for making noise.
Is it this same talent that led to the release of a Ministry statement recommending Germans have a food reserve in case of war? Does that not fit well with his recent security statement made in tandem with his colleagues from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union at the state level? Is there a connection to yet another disaster response training that took place this week? Is it all just fear mongering, as the opposition charges?
No run on supermarkets
Not exactly. The food reserve recommendation is simply a part of the government's overall emergency response plan. The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance offers tips on its website on how to prepare for a complete breakdown of all infrastructure for a 2-week period. Germans are generally as far removed from this actuality as they are from the Berlin Airlift in 1948 - the last time Germany really faced interruptions to its supply lines. This latest recommendation will hardly cause a run on supermarkets. At most, it will send a shiver down the spine.
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