Parliamentary working group on defence submits final report to Minister of Defence Häkkänen
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.
The working group submitted their final report on Finland’s defence development and resource needs to Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen on 2 June 2026. For the last six months, the Finnish defence administration provided the group with extensive information on matters concerning Finland’s operating environment and the need to develop and resource homeland defence in the long term.
The main conclusion of the report is that Russia poses a long-term and unpredictable threat to the security of Finland and NATO. Besides the Russian threat, Finland’s operating environment is also reshaped by the evolving character of war, by technological advances and by changes in the transatlantic division of responsibilities. A fundamental purpose of sustaining and developing Finland’s defence capability is to avoid a military crisis and to preserve peace. Preparedness is invariably preferable to a crisis in economic terms and especially from a human perspective.
Finland’s defence must be dimensioned to meet the requirements of the security environment, as well as the objectives and commitments related to NATO’s collective defence.
The report concludes that, while the foundation of Finland’s military capability is sound, a maintenance backlog has accumulated over the years and should be addressed as soon as possible. Over the next ten to fifteen years, the focus of defence system development will be on modernising land defence and addressing accumulated capability gaps.
Sufficient long-term resourcing of defence across parliamentary terms is essential for safeguarding Finland’s defence capability.
The parliamentary working group on defence was chaired by Member of Parliament Jukka Kopra (National Coalition Party). All parliamentary parties were represented in the group. The final report includes a dissenting opinion of the Left Alliance Parliamentary Group.
Inquiries:
- Jukka Kopra, chair of the parliamentary working group, tel. +358 400 515 066.
- Janne Kuusela, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 105.
- Markku Viitasaari, Director of the National Defence Unit, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 330.
- Outi Mäkinen, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 012.