Official press releases, news and speeches that the minister has held are located in this section. The Ministry of Defence publishes all of its press releases and news in Finnish and Swedish and many of them in English, too.
Press Releases
Amendments proposed to Conscription Act to ensure border security
The Ministry of Defence requests comments on amendments to the Conscription Act concerning continued support to the maintenance of border security.
Now, those liable for military service can only be ordered, through an accelerated procedure, to reservist training that aims to raise military readiness. The new grounds for reservist training would be intended for situations where border security has been seriously compromised. Such situations could include, for example, rapidly developing disturbances in border security due to hybrid threats in the form of large-scale instrumentalised migration or a situation requiring intensified border control because of a major accident or pandemic.
According to the proposal, the Act would allow reservists placed in border troops to be ordered to reservist training faster than the currently set three months. The proposal therefore concerns only a small proportion of reservists, those placed in border troops.
Reservists belonging to the border troops could be used under the direct guidance and supervision of border guards, for example to conduct both sensory surveillance and patrol-based surveillance, do guard duties and guidance and traffic control tasks, and provide support in transportation or maintenance of command and control system networks.
- The security of our borders must be ensured in all situations. Because the security situation has changed, we need more means to ensure the maintenance of border security alongside the current methods. If the border security situation so requires, the proposed amendments would make it possible to mobilise reservists placed in border troops as flexibly as possible, says Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen.
The draft government proposal can be read in the online service lausuntopalvelu.fi (in Finnish). Comments can be submitted from 15 to 26 May 2024.
Inquiries: Hanna Nordström, Director of Legal Affairs, Chair of the working group, Ministry of Defence (hanna.nordstrom@gov.fi, tel. +358 295 140 600) and Sanna Palo, Deputy Chair of the working group, Ministry of the Interior (sanna.palo@gov.fi, tel. +358 295 421 601). For requests for interviews with Minister of Defence Häkkänen, contact Dani Niskanen, Special Adviser, (dani.niskanen@gov.fi, tel. +358 41 544 4967).