Thread by @minna_alander

Some important things to know about Finnish defence capabilities and why Finland now wants to join NATO:

Finland does NOT want to outsource its defence to NATO. Suggesting that is basically an insult. It’s a matter of pride to many Finns to be able to stand up to Russia. 1/8

NATO membership is an additional insurance that makes the threshold of any military action against Finland as high as possible. But national defence will always remain a priority to Finland. In President Niinistö’s words: NATO membership won’t change geography. 2/

Finnish Defence Forces have a fully mobilised field army of up to 280 000 + 870 000 reservists (while Finland has 5.5 million inhabitants). The Air Force is extremely well-equipped (latest purchase 64 F-35 fighter jets) and the artillery is one of the strongest in Europe. 3/8

Finland already fulfils the NATO 2% defence spending goal and will exceed it in the coming years. And not to forget: Finns have a very high willingness to defend their country (in a poll from Dec 2021, 84% said they would contribute to the best of their ability). 4/8

The military defence, however, is only the peak of the iceberg: the Finnish comprehensive security concept encompasses the whole society, from infrastructure to economy and civil protection. Literally all aspects of life have been thought through from a security perspective. 5/8

As a NATO ally, Finland will take its commitments very seriously - Finns are a rule-abiding nation almost to the point of obsessiveness, as our EU partners can tell 🙃 Therefore, Finland will be more than ready to contribute its share to collective defence. 6/8

Russian disinformation is not so much a problem in Finland (Finns have a good media literacy re: Russian stuff) as outside of Finland, it aims at sowing doubts about Finland’s ability to cope with Russia’s potential retaliation and about Finland as a NATO partner. 7/8

Some sources 8/8

On the comprehensive security concept:
turvallisuuskomitea.fi/en/comprehensi…

More details on 🇫🇮 defence capabilities by @heljaossa & T. Koivula:
warontherocks.com/2022/05/what-w…