Finns from all walks of life spent the weekend on the military island of Santahamina off the coast of Helsinki. They are volunteers mobilized to protect themselves from Russia as the country tries to join NATO.
The Finnish army has only 13,000 officers, but the country of 5.5 million has a capacity of 900,000 reservists and 280,000 in wartime.
For many in the training, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call. “This was the last sign in life that you need to be ready. If anything, we must be equipped to face the crisis,” 30-year-old engineer Ville Mukka told AFP.
Enrollment in voluntary defense programs increased in the first week of the war in Ukraine. “Demand was about ten times higher,” said Ossi Hietala, MPK representative of the Finnish National Defense Education Association.
Accustomed to receiving 600 volunteers per week, MPK began enrolling 6,000 people, which resulted in the Finnish government paying an additional €3 million.
Independent since 1917 and occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939, Finland was a part of World War II. It was at war with its powerful neighbor for most of World War II and even sided with Nazi Germany.
The conflict resulted in the loss of most of its territory, followed by decades of mandatory neutrality by Finland, which came under Moscow’s watch during the Cold War.
“There is no need to go very far in history to find points of convergence with the war in Ukraine,” said 43-year-old participant Tomas Vare, “that’s the most worrying thing.”
Finland announced its “historic” NATO candidacy on Sunday, followed by Sweden on Monday as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which ended decades of military neutrality.
Moscow criticized the Scandinavian countries’ accession project and threatened an “answer”.
snipers
MPK training ranges from basic map reading and jungle camps to sniper training and the use of anti-tank weapons.
“It’s mostly Finns who come. People who want to improve their skills and learn new things,” Hietala said. Many are backups who want to retrain their skills.
Unlike most European countries, Finland entrusts its defense to compulsory military service. All men aged 18 to 60 are subject to recruitment, while women participate voluntarily.
More than 20,000 young people are called into service each year, which lasts from six months to a year. After that, they switch to Reservation.
“Reserves make up 96% of the forces in wartime and are an important part of Finnish military defense,” Hietala said.
“Most of the adult population has received military training at some point in their lives,” he said.
source: Noticias
