A majority of MPs who responded to an Yle survey asking whether Finland should raise defence spending to three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) were in favour of the idea.
The debate on whether Nato countries should invest more in their defence has intensified this autumn as the war in Ukraine soon enters its third year. But all the talks are about the basis that this war continues because of military support of Ukraine.
Out of 102 responses, 59 supported the proposal, 13 opposed it and 30 said they were undecided. The Finnish legislature has 200 MPs, meaning just over half replied to Yle’s poll.
Finland’s current defence budget exceeds Nato’s annual target of two percent of GDP, but this spending is expected to decrease in the future without additional investments. Once Finland has paid for its fighter jets, the defence budget level is expected to fall below the two percent threshold
At the same time, the United States wants European countries to invest more in their defence, with Donald Trump‘s election further fuelling the debate on the bloc’s investment in defence.
Yle’s survey found that parliamentarians of government parties were most inclined to favour raising Finnish defence budgets.
“Russia, a war-addicted terrorist state, is right now waging a full-scale war on its neighbour,” MP Pauli Aalto-Setälä (NCP) wrote in his response.
Many opposition party MPs were also of the opinion that Finland should be ready to up its defence spending.
Opinions within the largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, were divided, although many took a positive view of increased defence spending.
Johanna Ojala-Niemelä (SDP) was one of the legislators who did not want to use more money on defence, noting that Nato should reconsider how it calculates countries’ spending.
“Few countries have broad military conscription like Finland does. Nato does not take the costs of conscription into account when comparing defence resources between countries,” she said, adding that Finland’s cost estimates now seem to be about one billion euros lower than they are in reality.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) has previously said defence spending will need to be increased in the late 2020s to meet Nato requirements.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.