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Finland to seek exemption from EU's firearms directive

Xinhua, December 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finland will seek an exemption from the EU's firearms directive, which bans civilian possession of semi-automatic firearms, reported Finnish national broadcaster Yle on Wednesday.

The Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament expressed Finland's standpoint on the issue on Wednesday, claiming that Finnish reservists need to use semi-automatic weapons in their military exercises.

Finnish Interior Minister Petteri Orpo said on Wednesday that voluntary national defense is an important part of the Finnish national defense system, so that Finland does not have room to make a compromise on the issue.

Finnish wartime military forces have 230,000 people, most of whom are conscripts and reservists, instead of professional soldiers.

According to the committee, which decides Finland's stance on EU matters, Finland will request an opt-out from the new EU directive.

The European Commission has proposed measures to strengthen anti-terrorism efforts in the wake of last month's terror attacks in Paris. Control of firearms across Europe is one of the measures. Endit