NATO has once again put in black and white a warning that no one in Brussels treats as alarmism anymore. According to a classified joint assessment of the Atlantic Alliance, recently cited in Financial TimesRussia could be preparing its military, economic and intelligence capabilities for a direct confrontation with Europe within a five-year horizon and, in that context, Finland has decided to make a move.
On December 22, Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a law that raises the maximum age to remain in the military reserve to 65 years. The change represents a notable expansion of the previous framework, which set the limit at 50 years for troops and 60 for non-commissioned officers and officers, as detailed in the public media. Yle.
The reform establishes that all recruits, regardless of their rank, will continue to be part of the reserve until they are 65 years old. In addition, it introduces specific modifications for higher commands: colonels, commodores and higher-ranking officers may be called up without a specific age limit, as long as they are physically fit for service. At the same time, the reserve period for non-commissioned officers and officers is extended by five years, while only those who retain military rank will regularly participate in refresher training.
Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen has explained that during a five-year transition period the size of the reserve will grow by about 125,000 people. With this progressive expansion, the Government expects that the country’s total reserve will reach around one million troops in 2031, a figure that significantly reinforces the defensive capacity of a country with a long border with Russia.
The Finnish Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the reform does not affect the entire population, but rather a limited number of citizens with prior military training. The objective, they maintain, is to expand the capacity of the Defense Forces and the Border Guard to use experienced personnel in crisis situations and also facilitate voluntary participation in national defense tasks without age restrictions. “Together with all other measures to strengthen defence, this sends a message that Finland is taking care of its security now and in the future,” Häkkänen said.
The Helsinki move fits with a climate of growing unrest within the Alliance. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte recently warned that if China were to resort to military force, it could pressure its “junior partner,” Russia, to act against Europe, a scenario that would force the continent to be prepared for a full-scale attack.
Added to this reading are information from Reuters that cites sources close to the Kremlin and that suggests that Vladimir Putin would maintain as a strategic objective to gain full control of Ukraine and, in the longer term, regain influence over Eastern European territories that were part of the former Soviet orbit. These include the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – as well as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Albania and Slovakia.
