Press releases and news

Australia's Minister of Defence Richard Marles visited Helsinki on 9 June to meet with Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.

Brazil's Minister of Defence José Mucio Monteiro Filho will meet with Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen in Helsinki on 8 June.

NATO’s Forward Land Forces Finland (FLF Finland) will be officially founded on Saturday 6 June 2026.

In line with the Government Programme, the Finnish Government will reform the Act on the Screening of Foreign Corporate Acquisitions so that risks relating to national security, security of supply and broad-spectrum threats are taken into account more effectively than at present. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has sent out for comments a government proposal to reform the legislation on foreign corporate acquisitions to meet the demands of today’s geopolitical environment and technological advances.

On 4 June 2026, the Finnish Government, based on Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen’s presentation, submitted to Parliament a government proposal for reforming the legislation on military intelligence.

​​​​​​​On 4 June 2026, Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen denied 14 prospective buyers from outside the EU and EEA a permit to buy real estate in Finland.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen received on Tuesday 2 June 2026 the final report of a parliamentary working group examining the need to develop and resource Finland’s homeland defence in the 2030s.

A parliamentary working group on defence, appointed by the Finnish Government, examined the need to develop and resource Finland’s homeland defence in the 2030s.

Finland will host a series of testing events led by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) as part of the national implementation of NATO Innovation Range. The events will be held in Riihimäki, Joensuu, Oulu and Turku.

Finland will deliver its 33rd materiel assistance package to Ukraine. The President of the Republic decided on the matter on 29 May 2026 on the proposal of the Government.

The Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy of the Finnish Government has outlined that the expenditure Finland will be reporting under NATO’s 1.5 per cent target for defence- and security-related spending will include statutory readiness and preparedness duties or capabilities critical to homeland defence that are sustained and developed by other branches of government than the Ministry of Defence. These costs are estimated to reach 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026, clearly exceeding the NATO target.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen will attend a meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council in its defence configuration in Brussels on 12 May 2026.

Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen has authorised the Defence Forces to order thermal clip-on optics and related equipment and spare parts through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen will attend a defence ministers’ meeting of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) in Trondheim, Norway, on 5–6 May 2024.

The ministers will meet at the National Defence University as part of the working visit of Estonia’s Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur to Finland.

Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen will make a working visit to Stockholm on Tuesday 28 April 2026. He will be hosted by Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Minister for Defence.

​​​​​​​The Finnish Government proposes that an agreement supplementing the Paris Protocol be accepted to facilitate the establishment and operations of international military headquarters in Finland. The government proposal was submitted to Parliament on 23 April 2026.

​​​​​​​On 23 April 2024, the Finnish Government submitted to Parliament a proposal to amend the Nuclear Energy Act and the Criminal Code. The Government proposes to remove the legal barriers on importing nuclear devices into Finland and on transporting, supplying or possessing them in Finland in the context of Finland’s homeland defence, the collective defence of NATO or defence cooperation.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG), coordinating materiel support for Ukraine, held a video conference on Wednesday 15 April 2026.

The Finnish call-up process will have two parts in the future. The first part will be a call-up information day for the whole age group, providing young people with more information about homeland defence. The second part, the call-up day proper, will be organised later for men liable for military service and for women applying for voluntary military service. The call-up information day will be piloted in Espoo, Iisalmi and Jyväskylä in autumn 2026. The primary goal is to give young people a firmer basis of knowledge about homeland defence, provide answers to their questions and help them to prepare for the call-up process and military service.