Finland’s government has announced plans to strengthen its military by raising troop levels and increasing defense spending. Helsinki cited concerns over actions by neighboring Russia as a reason for the beef up.
Worried about increasing East-West tensions in the Baltic Sea, Finland announced plans on Thursday to increase its wartime troops by 20 percent, from 230,000 to 280,000.
Finland – which is not a NATO member but has compulsory military service – cut its army down from 350,000 troops to 230,000 in 2012.
The troop boost will “improve the capability to defend the entire territory of the country,” the government wrote in a defense report. Finland shares a 1,340 kilometer (830 mile) border with Russia.
“Russia aims to strengthen its great-power status, and it has expressed the goal of a sphere-of-influence based security regime,” the report said.
The Nordic country also plans to replace its aging naval fleet and its 62 Hornet fighter jets during the next decade.
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Finland to ramp up troop levels amid heightened Russian tensions https://t.co/Tp4qDg8L2P pic.twitter.com/EHhtmCgmZC
— dwnews (@dwnews) February 17, 2017
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