The Finland government has committed this Friday to raise the national expenditure in defense up to 3 percent of GDP in 2029, within a new rearme strategy that also includes the future departure of the Nordic country of the Convention on the Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines.
Finland, which shares about 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia, joined NATO exactly two years and already exceeds today the 2 percent commitment in defense, but Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has confirmed in a public appearance that they want to be more ambitious.
In this regard, he stressed that the new objective will contribute to “further reinforce the defense of Finland” and adopt a long -term approach with a view to “modernizing” the armed forces, despite the fact that the prime minister has affirmed that there is no “imminent military threat,” the government reports.
The Minister of Defense, Antti Hakkanen, has raised a new scenario in which the Armed Forces will receive “about 3.7 billion euros (additional) in the next four years”, with a view to “responding to the current security situation in Europe and the military threat that Russia represents.”
Orpo has also confirmed that Finland is determined to get out of Ottawa’s treaty on antipersone mines, in line with decisions already taken in Poland and Baltic countries. The government has clarified that it will not display mines per system, but that it wants to reserve the “possibility” of preparing for new scenarios in “a more versatile way.”
“The most important objectives of Finland’s foreign and security policy remain to safeguard independence and territorial integrity, avoid involving us in a military conflict and ensure the security and well -being of the Finnish population,” Orpo summarized.