In a sign that joining NATO may be bad for your mental health, Finland’s government has put forth a plan to radically increase the size of the defense budget. The plan will jack up defense spending from $6.8 billion in 2025 to $11.5 billion in 2032, or 3.3% of GDP. In 2020, the Finnish defense budget was only $3.5 billion.
“The security situation, in Finland and regionally, is difficult to predict,” said Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen, reported Defense News. “It could deteriorate quickly. Greater investment is needed in defense and national security to enhance our ability to counter broad-spectrum influencing, resist military pressure and fight potential large-scale wars that could drag on for years. As a result, we will reform national defense while also bringing the major ongoing projects in our Air Force and Navy to the finish line.”
The government submitted a report to the parliament on Dec. 19 which claims that Russia could decide to extend its alleged war with Ukraine to neighboring NATO-aligned Baltic countries and member states of the European Union. “Russia has moved towards a more open, unpredictable and protracted confrontation with the West that will continue to pose a long-term security threat to Europe and Finland” the defense report states.
