By Essi Lehto
HELSINKI (Reuters) -Russia and countries that support it will remain a danger to Europe even after the war in Ukraine has ended, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said on Thursday.
Finland, like Ukraine, is a neighbour to Russia, sharing a more than 1,300-km (800-mile) border that is currently closed to all travellers as Helsinki accuses Moscow of funnelling illegal migration to Europe.
Hakkanen, presenting a review of the Nordic country’s military, said he saw Russia’s increased cooperation with North Korea, Iran and China as a long-term risk.
“Russia, together with its allies, will remain a dangerous actor in Europe even after the war in Ukraine and we cannot exclude the possibility of (them) threatening European countries with the use of military force,” he said.
Finland on Thursday published its first defence policy review since it joined the NATO military alliance last year in a historic policy shift brought on by the Ukraine invasion.
The review recommended that Finland should focus on strengthening its national defence, NATO’s deterrence and cooperation with individual allies, especially in regional surveillance and training.
“The main allies in our international cooperation are Sweden, Norway, the United States, Britain and Estonia,” Hakkanen said, adding Finland was working with South Korea, Israel and Japan in securing defence materials.
Finland will continue to spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on defence, in line with a minimum target set by NATO, according to the review.
The Baltic nations and Poland are expected to spend between 3.2% and 4.7%, while Sweden and Norway are expected to reach 2.6% by 2030, the policy review stated.
Hakkanen earlier this week told Reuters that Finland will consider bringing back anti-personnel landmines to help protect the border, which would entail pulling out of a treaty ratified or acceded to by more than 160 countries but not by Russia.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Terje Solsvik, Louise Rasmussen and Angus MacSwan)
