A 900,000-strong reserve force in Finland awaits Russia if the latter decides to invade, Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho told Kyiv Post in an exclusive interview in Helsinki last week.
While exact details on the timeline for full mobilization are not publicly available, Halla-aho said Finland has a well-developed readiness system in place.
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The country maintains a reserve force of 280,000 troops that could be mobilized within a reasonable time frame if needed – with the entire reserve comprising 900,000 troops, he said.
“The size of the reserve that can be mobilized with relative ease and that has a placement in a time of war is 280,000 at the moment. That number could be mobilized in a reasonable time. And the size of the entire reserve is about 900,000,” Halla-aho said.
Mobilizing the full reserve would take weeks, though the exact timeline is uncertain. In case of rising tensions, Finland would start preparations in advance, relying on intelligence to ensure readiness for any attack. He said that in a real crisis, troops would be prepared to respond swiftly.
Halla-aho said Russia poses a military threat to all its neighbors, including Finland.
“In the long term, yes, we clearly understand that Russia is a danger – a military and non-military danger to all its neighbors, including Finland,” he said.
Finland is monitoring the situation, but at the moment, military activity across the Finnish border is minimal.
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“There are military bases and garrisons on the other side of the border, but those have been more or less emptied, and the equipment and the troops have been transferred to Ukraine. So we are not afraid of an immediate military action by the Russians,” he added.
Finland has its own defense industry, and Helsinki has decided to boost military production and continue to increase defense spending.
Halla-aho told Kyiv Post that Finland’s current defense spending stands at 2.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP), although the recommended NATO level at present is only 2%.
“But our figure, this 2.4% figure, is partly explained by our very big and expensive investments in the Air Force and in the Navy,” he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given Finland new insights, allowing military experts to closely monitor Ukraine’s wartime experience and incorporate these lessons into their defense planning, he said.
“We have a very big budget deficit and we are trying to cut spending everywhere, but because of what is happening in Europe today, the defense budget is off-limits. There is a general agreement that there will not be cuts in that sector. We need to spend more on defense even when we are spending less on everything else,” he told Kyiv Post.
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