Firmly Giving Warning To Russia, Finnish Defense Minister: We Are Not Afraid And Will Survive To The Last Resident

Finnish military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/MKFI)

JAKARTA - A Finnish military official has stressed that the country is not afraid of Russia and is ready to defend itself until the last population is invaded due to plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"Although Russia is a major military power, we have never been afraid of Russia and we will not fear them now," Finnish Defense Minister Brigadier General Sami Nurmi told The National News outside the Helsinki defense headquarters, as quoted May 18.

Joining NATO has reduced the chances that the Nordic countries will be attacked by Russia, continued the person in charge of Finland's defense policy.

"We will defend it until the last Finn (Finnish resident)," he stressed if Russia invaded his country.

He further explained, Finland has "operational strength, a more capable and modern force, so that it can make the center of gravity shift in the direction we need."

Illustration of the Finnish military K98 155 artillery. (Wikimedia Commons/MKFI)

In contrast to neighboring Sweden, which is also seeking to join NATO, Finland has continued conscription since the end of the Cold War, giving it a fighting force of 280.000 troops, including reservists.

"After the Cold War, everyone said we don't need the military anymore. I think the situation today proves we were right in our decision. We didn't get rid of conscription and our army has modernized too," he said.

He explained, military service requires all men aged 18 years and over to serve for one year in the military. According to him, it inspires the will to defend the country, understand what is meant by security.

"We are simple and stubborn people but also our history, traditions and memories we have of the Second World War," he said.

"We never trusted our eastern neighbors to such an extent that, we could give up our general conscription or defense developments, so we always guarded against the possibility of using military force against us and since we are militarily non-aligned, we have taken care of it ourselves,"Brigadier General Sami said.

Finnish military K9 Thunder self propelled artillery illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/MKFI)

Fighting in Finland's rugged terrain that includes lakes, swamps and pine forests is tough, with the Russians having endured it in the Winter War of 1940, in which they lost some 300.000 soldiers.

The thousands of islands in its archipelago and shallow coves also make it nearly impossible to invade from the sea.

This is made even more difficult by the use of mine layers concentrated in Finland. Its navy will also be equipped with the 2020 Squadron program, in which there are four frigates with air defense and submarine hunting capabilities.

Not only that, Finland also has a very large arsenal of 2.500 artillery pieces of various sizes and technologies, from 120mm mortars to advanced K9 Thunder tracking artillery.

It is known that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the usefulness of artillery, an area that is somewhat overlooked by other militaries, but in which Finland excels.

"Tactics also developed by Ukrainian forces, such as moving in small and flexible groups, are what we specialize in," said Brigadier General Sami.

Asked about Finland's possible response if Russia threatened to use nuclear weapons, Brigadier General Nurmi said "Nato also has nuclear (weapons)."

With Finland in NATO, Russia must seriously consider the repercussions of any future aggression.