Finland plans to bolster war time forces, increase preparedness
Xinhua, February 17, 2017 Adjust font size:
Finland is planning to increase its war time deployable armed forces to 280,000 men and women, Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto announced on Thursday.
The plan means a partial backtracking from the cutbacks of 2012. In 2012, Finland decided to reduce war time defense forces from 350,000 down to the current 230,000.
On Thursday, Niinisto also said the focus of defense development will be on land forces during the remainder of this decade. He mentioned particularly the need for immediate response forces.
Even though it was a government paper, all parliamentary parties have been represented in a supervisory grouping. Local media said Prime Minister Juha Sipila has conducted talks with party leaders to assure the necessary budgetary backing in parliament during years ahead.
The expansion of the war time forces requires no extra training of conscripts as the current national service system produces enough reservists.
The report defined Sweden and the United States as key companions in defense. Niinisto said the report included "no restriction in the level of cooperation" with Sweden. The development of defense cooperation with the European Union would be promoted as well.
The report said that the military activities and tension in the Baltic Sea area has increased. The advance warning time of military crises has become shorter and the threshold of using military force has become lower.
Initial increases in spending will include 55 million euros (58.6 million U.S. dollars) per year from 2018 to increase preparedness and additional annual 150 million euros for equipment in 2018. Next decade, 7 to 10 billion euros are needed for replacing the Hornet FA18 fighters and 1.2 billion euros for new navy ships.
The current military budget of Finland is 2.8 billion euros per annum, or 1.3 percent of the GDP. In Finland, spending on border guards and military pensions are not part of the defense budget. If included, the level would be 1.6 percent. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollars) Endit