Press releases and news

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.

The Finnish Ministry of Defence and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) signed a government-to-government contract on 9 April 2026 regarding the purchase of surplus K9 self-propelled howitzers.

On Sunday morning, a few low-flying, slow-moving small objects were detected in Finnish airspace both over the maritime area and in Southeast Finland. The Finnish Air Force has responded to the situation with a recognition and identification mission carried out by an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. According to current information, one drone has fallen to the ground north of Kouvola and another east of Kouvola. The police have cordoned off the areas for further investigation.

On 27 March 2026, Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen denied six prospective buyers from outside the EU and EEA a permit to buy real estate in Finland.

Finland and a group of other NATO countries are exploring the establishment of a new financing mechanism.

Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen hosted the countries participating in FLF Finland at the Cold Response 26 exercise at Rovajärvi on 16 March 2026.

Joint statement on Cold Response 26 and NATO’s Forward Land Forces in Finland by the Ministers of Defence of Finland, Sweden and Norway on 16 March 2026.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen has decided to place functions of the 3rd Logistics Regiment of the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command in Kemi.

Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen decided on 6th of March 2026 that a NATO Deployable CIS Module (DMC) will be established in Riihimäki. The DMC is scheduled to start operations in early 2027.

Finland’s Ministry of Defence will circulate for comments a draft government proposal to amend the Nuclear Energy Act and the Criminal Code.

The Finnish Government has appointed Otto Saxén, M.Soc.Sc., as Director General of the Defence Policy Department at the Ministry of Defence for a five-year term from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031.

Finland's Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen has chosen Rovaniemi as the location for NATO’s Forward Land Forces (FLF) Multinational Staff Element (MNSE).

NATO approved Finland’s proposal to host a Deployable CIS Module.

Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen will attend the meeting of EU defence ministers and the meeting of NATO defence ministers, as well as the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and the defence ministers’ meeting of the Nordic Defence Cooperation. After these meetings in Brussels, Minister Häkkänen will continue to the Munich Security Conference.