Finland- EU- Russia security — страница 3

Credible national defence is the best way to guarantee that Finnish territory will not become the object of military speculation, or that a war will not result from the threat of military force in even minor crises. The entire territory of the country will be defended. The creation of capabilities for receiving assistance in a crisis situation is taken into consideration in developing Finland's defence.   The President of the Republic is the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces. The Government Committee on Foreign and Security Policy is the highest consultative and planning body on defence matters. Its members are the ministers responsible for national security, the Prime Minister acting as its chairman. The President may attend the meetings. As a part of the Council of

State, the Ministry of Defence is responsible for national defence policy, as well as international defence cooperation.   The Chief of Defence leads the Defence Forces, which are responsible for securing the territorial integrity of the country, and the defence of the nation and its military preparedness in general. Administratively, the Defence Forces are under the Ministry of Defence. In respect to operational orders, the Chief of Defence is directly responsible to the President.   In addition to military defence, the concept of total defence includes measures concerning national economy, civil defence, the media, social welfare, communications and civil order. In accordance with the 1991 State of Readiness Act, the defence of the nation is shared among several

different administrative sectors.   The country is divided into three commands and 12 military provinces, a structure that ensures the whole territory is defended. The most important tasks of the Defence Forces are surveillance of the nation's land, sea and air spaces, securing territorial integrity and, if necessary, the defence of the country.   According to Finnish law, all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 are under obligation to carry out military service. The conscripts serve either a period of twelve (12), nine (9) or six (6) months. Each year more than 80% of those called up complete their national service. An essential part of national service is military training of reservists. In accordance with a law passed in 1995, it is possible for women to

volunteer for military service, and 400-500 women do so annually.   Finland's wartime defence is based on mobilised forces. The general development in Europe, including the environs of Finland, has made a reduction in the strength of Defence Forces possible, provided the technical level of the remaining forces is raised. The reductions in the Defence Forces wartime strength will be continued, bringing the maximum strength down to 350,000 men by the end of 2008.   In developing Finland's defence system, priority will be given to the command and control system, the Army's readiness formations, military crisis management capacity and the wartime economy arrangements in the information society.   4.  The Finnish Defence Forces   Finland spends about 1.4 % of

its GDP on military defence. An essential part of the Defence Forces' capability is its materiel preparedness, and about one third of defence expenditure is spent on procurement.   Finland's military crisis management capacity is developed to meet the crisis management objectives of the European Union and the UN, the primary tool being the NATO Planning and Review Process (PARP). Development of the troops and systems of the Finnish Defence Forces for crisis management purposes will be of benefit to national defence. Finland can participate in military crisis management operations implemented by the UN, the OSCE, the EU or NATO, provided these operations are under a UN or OSCE mandate consistent with the provisions of the Finnish Act on Peace Support Operations. Finland may

have up to 2,000 peacekeepers in operations at any one time.   The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence are responsible for military crisis management preparations, guidance and supervision. The Defence Forces are responsible for practical implementation.   Finland's first priority is to take part in EU-led Peace Support Operations in the Nordic framework. The Nordic Countries have developed the concept of a common pool of forces for military crisis management within the framework of the Nordic Coordinated Arrangement for Military Peace Support (NORDCAPS). ´Our common Nordic aim is to create, by the year 2003, a Nordic force package up to brigade level for Peace Support Operations. These troops could be used in both EU and NATO-led operations,