Finlands defense minister talks NATO, Ukraine and fishing

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Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen (L) attends a meeting at the Ministry of Defence in Tokyo on Oct. 26, 2026. (Rie Kikuchi / AFP via Getty Images)

Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen visited New Zealand on Oct. 21 to discuss security issues with officials there. His travel agenda also included Australia and Japan, signaling the Northern European country’s interest in the region despite the geographical distance.

“We are reinforcing our relations with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, we see plenty of opportunities to deepen defense materiel cooperation,” Häkkänen was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Finnish government ahead of the trip.

He caught up with Defense News in Wellington for a brief interview.

What NATO assets is Finland prepared to host?

When we joined NATO we were prepared, nationally, to defend ourselves. As a NATO member our first responsibility is a strong, national defense with lots of European assets in the Navy, Air Force and also in space nowadays.

We have established NATO’s northern Europe’s land headquarters in the Arctic area, on Finnish soil. So we are leading the land defense.

What are your priorities for Finland’s defense?

We have four pillars in our defense policy. The first one is that Finland, by itself, has to be always, always, ready to defend our own country.

Second, is strong NATO in northern Europe. Now we have built NATO’s capabilities to operate in Arctic areas, so we are really happy to see that NATO’s evermore able to act in the north.

Third, is defense corporation with different countries. Some countries — for example the United States and European countries — are in operational planning on how to act together in crisis situations, so that’s the third pillar. Supporting NATO’s Article five.

And the fourth pillar is comprehensive security. We have to have enough from our own country: energy, food, equipment from the defense industry. We have civil shelters for almost 5.5 million people [ editor’s note: much of Finland’s total population ], and the whole society has to be prepared to act in crisis mode. Every company has to plan how they can operate, even if war starts.

We are developing and investing heavily in those pillars. The Finnish way to do things is cost-effective, high-quality and win-win. We are not just saying that Finland needs something, we’re also ready to provide our knowledge, our expertise.

How do your NH90 operations compare with New Zealand’s?

There were difficulties at the start. But now our special forces and our land forces are using the NH90 and they have been customized to Finnish needs, to our special environment. Our pilots are really satisfied and when they have compared NH90 to some other equipment that is now in the market, they think that this is still the best one.

How is Finland supporting Ukraine ?

Heavily, by all the political levels. We are heavy supporters of Ukrainian military from our stocks. We are giving a lot of money, because we see that if Ukraine doesn’t stop Russia, Russia’s hunger will grow for Europe and they will do something nasty.

Supporting Ukraine is also supporting our own security and it shows all the other dictators around the world that democratic nations are united to support Ukraine and oppose violence against neighbors. That’s why we are really happy to see that New Zealand’s also [supporting] Ukraine.

France has offered to extend its nuclear deterrent to Europe, what do you think of that proposal ?

Let me be clear, NATO’s nuclear deterrence comes [from] U.S. weapon systems, that’s for sure, but France gives an additional, extra deterrence and that will create some strategic dilemmas for Putin.

What keeps you awake at night ?

My kids! I have two small kids and I live at the eastern border, at the Russian border, so I’m cool. I fish there, in beautiful lakes, and I have my house there with my family, so I’m taking it easy, like everyone who lives [there]. That’s a strong border.

We have always tried to have diplomatic relations with Russia, but throughout history, from Catherine the Great to Peter the Great, Russians have always been willing to use violence, against their own people, but also against their neighbors.

That’s why Finland has been always pragmatic in defense and security, you have to always be ready. That’s why we are so cool and calm. There [are] a million reservists in Finland, everyone has had military training. We know that Russia is a threat, but we have to just do our stuff, be prepared to invest heavily, keep our friends close, get new friends globally and do stuff right —that’s the Finnish way to handle a difficult security situation.

The Joint Expeditionary Force, is that proving useful?

JEF is one of the most important defense operations for Finnish and northern Europe’s defense. We think that the most valuable part of JEF is that it can react fast; JEF has already operated, so there’s no need to wait for some kind of clear Article Five case.

How can New Zealand’s forces support yours?

Well, we are now having this dialogue between our partners … there’s different kinds of possibilities with different organizations. For example, today we discussed space capabilities, Finland has a lot of space companies and a lot of technological expertise, but New Zealand has different kinds of space capability, launching, for example. Also countering problems with undersea cables.

Do you see Ukraine joining NATO?

Maybe someday. Ukraine’s path is to the West, to their democratic alliances in Europe. But all the NATO countries have to approve it and U.S. and other countries have said no at this point.

About a quarter of New Zealand’s defense force consists of women, do you know the percentage of women in Finland’s forces?

It’s much smaller, but it’s rising. All the men are obliged to participate and it’s voluntary for women. The number of women are growing now because everyone in Finland wants to participate.

Is everyone still happy in Finland?

Yeah, we’re the happiest nation in the world, for nine years in a row. Even though there’s some challenges and dark clouds in the war in Europe, still people in Finland are quite cool.

Russia is building new military infrastructure near our borders, so we have to do more for our security. But we can do it, it’s not a big problem.

I’m optimistic. The Finnish mindset … it’s kind of a mixup of reason and optimism. You face the world as it is. You have to adapt, take your chances, find the possibilities in economy, security and do the best that you can do.

Nick Lee-Frampton is the New Zealand correspondent for Defense News.

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2026年10月26日，芬兰国防部长安蒂·哈卡宁（左）在东京防卫省出席会议。（图片来源：Rie Kikuchi / AFP via Getty Images）

芬兰国防部长安蒂·哈卡宁于10月21日访问新西兰，与当地官员讨论安全问题。他的行程还包括澳大利亚和日本，这表明尽管地理位置遥远，这个北欧国家仍然对该地区抱有浓厚的兴趣。

“我们正在加强与印太地区伙伴的关系。此外，我们看到了许多深化国防物资合作的机会，”芬兰政府在哈卡宁出访前发布的一份声明中援引他的话说。

他在惠灵顿接受了《防务新闻》的简短采访。

芬兰准备接纳哪些北约资产？

加入北约时，我们在国家层面已经做好了自卫的准备。作为北约成员国，我们的首要责任是建立强大的国防力量，这得益于我们在海军、空军以及如今的太空领域所拥有的众多欧洲资源。

我们在北极地区的芬兰领土上设立了北约北欧陆地司令部。因此，我们领导着陆地防御。

芬兰国防的优先事项是什么？

我们的国防政策有四大支柱。第一大支柱是芬兰必须时刻做好保卫祖国的准备。

其次，北约在北欧的实力日益增强。现在我们已经建立了北约在北极地区的行动能力，所以我们非常高兴地看到北约在北方地区的行动能力越来越强。

第三，是与不同国家开展防务合作。一些国家——例如美国和欧洲国家——正在制定应对危机情况的联合行动计划，这是第三个支柱，也是对北约第五条款的支持。

第四大支柱是全面安全。我们必须确保本国拥有充足的资源：能源、食品、国防工业的装备。我们拥有可容纳近550万人的民用避难所（编者注：占芬兰总人口的很大一部分），整个社会都必须做好应对危机的准备。每家公司都必须制定计划，即使战争爆发也能正常运营。

我们正在大力发展和投资这些支柱产业。芬兰的做事方式注重成本效益、高质量和双赢。我们不仅认为芬兰需要某些东西，我们也准备提供我们的知识和专业技能。

你们的NH90运营情况与新西兰的相比如何？

起初确实遇到了一些困难。但现在，我们的特种部队和陆军都在使用NH90，而且这些NH90已经根据芬兰的需求和特殊环境进行了定制。我们的飞行员非常满意，他们将NH90与市面上其他一些装备进行了比较，认为NH90仍然是最好的。

芬兰是如何支持乌克兰的？

各政治层面都大力支持乌克兰军队。我们动用资金大力支持乌克兰军队。我们投入大量资金，因为我们认为，如果乌克兰不阻止俄罗斯，俄罗斯对欧洲的野心就会越来越大，他们会做出一些可怕的事情。

支持乌克兰就是支持我们自身的安全，这也向世界其他独裁者表明，民主国家团结一致支持乌克兰，反对针对邻国的暴力行为。因此，我们非常高兴地看到新西兰也支持乌克兰。

法国提议将其核威慑力量扩展到欧洲，您对这一提议有何看法？

让我明确一点，北约的核威慑来自美国的武器系统，这是肯定的，但法国提供了额外的威慑力量，这将给普京带来一些战略上的困境。

什么事情让你夜不能寐？

我的孩子们！我有两个小孩，我住在东部边境，也就是俄罗斯边境，所以我过得很好。我在那里美丽的湖泊里钓鱼，我的房子也在那里，和家人住在一起，所以我过得很悠闲，就像所有住在那里的人一样。那是一条坚固的边境线。

我们一直试图与俄罗斯建立外交关系，但纵观历史，从叶卡捷琳娜大帝到彼得大帝，俄罗斯人总是乐于使用暴力，不仅对本国人民，也对邻国。

这就是为什么芬兰在国防和安全方面一直秉持务实的态度，时刻准备着。这也是我们如此冷静沉着的原因。芬兰有上百万预备役军人，每个人都接受过军事训练。我们知道俄罗斯是一个威胁，但我们必须做好自己的本职工作，做好大量投资的准备，与盟友保持密切联系，在全球范围内结交新的朋友，并以正确的方式处理问题——这就是芬兰应对复杂安全局势的方式。

联合远征军，它真的有用吗？

联合远征部队（JEF）是芬兰和北欧国防最重要的防御行动之一。我们认为JEF最宝贵的优势在于其快速反应能力；JEF此前已开展过行动，因此无需等待明确的第五条案件。

新西兰军队能如何支援贵国军队？

目前，我们正在与合作伙伴进行对话……与不同的组织合作存在不同的可能性。例如，今天我们讨论了太空能力，芬兰拥有众多航天公司和丰富的技术专长，而新西兰则拥有不同的太空能力，例如发射能力。此外，他们还在应对海底电缆问题方面拥有优势。

你认为乌克兰会加入北约吗？

或许有一天会实现。乌克兰的道路是走向西方，走向欧洲的民主联盟。但所有北约国家都必须批准，而美国和其他国家目前都表示反对。

新西兰国防部队中约有四分之一是女性，你知道芬兰军队中女性的比例是多少吗？

虽然规模小得多，但参与人数正在增长。所有男性都必须参加，女性则完全自愿。现在女性参与人数不断增加，是因为芬兰的每个人都想参与。

芬兰人现在都还幸福吗？

是的，我们连续九年蝉联世界上最幸福的国家。尽管欧洲战事带来了一些挑战和阴霾，但芬兰人民依然非常乐观。

俄罗斯正在我们边境附近修建新的军事基础设施，所以我们必须加强安全防范。但我们能做到，这不是什么大问题。

我很乐观。芬兰人的思维方式……可以说是理性和乐观的结合。你要面对世界的本来面目。你必须适应，抓住机遇，在经济和安全领域寻找机会，并尽你所能做到最好。

Nick Lee-Frampton 是《国防新闻》驻新西兰记者。