Russia poses long-term, unpredictable threat to Finland´s security: WG

Russia poses a long-term and unpredictable threat to the security of Finland and NATO, according to a report submitted by a parliamentary working group (WG) on defence.

The group submitted its final report on Finland’s defence development and resource needs to Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen on Tuesday, said the ministry in a press release.

The group appointed by the government, examined the need to develop and resource Finland’s homeland defence in the 2030s.

Chaired by lawmaker Jukka Kopra, the parliamentary working group included representatives from all parliamentary parties and the final report included a dissenting opinion of the Left Alliance Parliamentary Group.

The report said that while the foundation of Finland’s military capability is sound, a maintenance backlog has accumulated over the years and should be addressed as soon as possible.

Over the next ten to fifteen years, the focus of defence system development will be on modernising land defence and addressing accumulated capability gaps.

The main conclusion of the report also said that Finland’s operating environment is reshaped by the evolving character of war, by technological advances and by changes in the transatlantic division of responsibilities.

Finland’s defence must be dimensioned to meet the requirements of the security environment, as well as the objectives and commitments related to NATO’s collective defence, said the report.

A fundamental purpose of sustaining and developing Finland’s defence capability is to avoid a military crisis and to preserve peace. Preparedness is invariably preferable to a crisis in economic terms and especially from a human perspective.

Sufficient long-term resourcing of defence across parliamentary terms is essential for safeguarding Finland’s defence capability.