How Finland has been preparing for decades for a potential conflict with Russia

Helsinki defines itself as a “low-rise” capital. As in the rest of Finlandmid- and low-rise buildings and houses, with hardly any towers or skyscrapers, dominate an unmistakably Nordic view.

But below, in the subsoil, Finland reveals to us a world apart.

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Tomi Rask is a civil defense trainer in Helsinki and proudly describes the city’s famous network of underground shelters.

It is a massive set of spaces that Finns rely on to ward off invasion, natural disaster or any emergency misfortune.

“In Helsinki alone we have about 5,500 underground shelters. fit almost one million people and they withstand all kinds of attacks from the most modern weapons, including nuclear ones,” Rask tells BBC Mundo.

The care with which the Finns have designed this underground network is not their only defense against catastrophe.

For decades, Finland has enforced one of the world’s strictest military conscription systems, mustered vast stockpiles of oil, food and medicine, and raised widespread awareness of the need to be prepared for “worst-case scenarios.”

A level of preparation based, among other factors, on mistrust of its neighbor to the east, Russia, with which it shares 1,300 kilometers of border and which in the past invaded and seized territories.

Helsinki’s sprawling shelters have the capacity to house almost a million people, around 30% more than the city’s capacity. (HELSINKI MEDIA BANK).

Since World War II, both countries have lived in relative calm thanks to the neutrality adopted by Finland to ensure peace with its neighbor.

But everything changed with the war in Ukraine. Finland perceived the threat more closely and is now accelerating its incorporation into NATO, a movement that has generated threats and warnings from Moscow.

Moments of tension for a country that has been preparing for it for a long time.

Equipped shelters

Several of the thousands of underground spaces in Helsinki today are far from looking like a refuge for times of war or catastrophes.

Swimming pools, Olympic tracks, museums, children’s parks and restaurants can be found tens of meters deep in these superspaces.

This public swimming pool can be transformed into a shelter for use in less than 72 hours. (HELSINKI MEDIA BANK).

However, it is enough to activate the alarm so that they become a shelter for use in less than 72 hours, including the time necessary to install decontaminating showers, toilets and close the doors with force.

“Our shelters have a dual use. We use them for shelter and to store goods. In times of war, we can provide filtered oxygen, food and waterRask describes.

And if the threat extends for more weeks and months, the shelters also have an internal system to maintain this flow of goods and medicines.

In Helsinki, these spaces can accommodate almost a million people.

“Considering that there are 630,000 inhabitants in the capital and capacity for more than 900,000 in the shelters, there is plenty of room for visitors and non-residents in Helsinki as well,” says Rask.

The shelters are equipped to provide multiple uses. (HELSINKI MEDIA BANK).

At the beginning of 2020, Finland had 54,000 civil defense shelters with a capacity for a total of 4.4 million people. Most are in big cities and are private reinforced concrete shelters in individual buildings. Properties consisting of multiple buildings have joint bunkers.

This extensive network began to be built in the 1980s, in the midst of the Cold War, “with the threat of a nuclear war” looming over the heads of many, Anu Lahtinen, a specialist in Nordic and Finnish history at the University of Helsinki.

strict military service

With the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Soviet socialism, and the return of stability on the European continent, conscription lost its popularity and many countries abolished it.

Today, only eight of the 28 countries of the European Union continue to practice it, including Finland, where it also has significant popular support.

This State, along with other countries with mandatory conscription such as Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden itself, “can group together because they consider their neighbor to be dangerous or unpredictable. These countries are likely to perceive Russia as a threat“, says a report by Finabel, an organization that promotes cooperation between the national armies of the EU Member States.

Finland has one of the strictest conscription systems on the continent, and from the website of the Ministry of the Interior they justify it in the fact that it needs to defend itself as it does not belong to any military alliance.

According to the Constitution, every Finn is forced to participate in national defense. Every male between the ages of 18 and 60 is eligible for military service and females can apply on a voluntary basis.

Military service is compulsory for men in Finland. (GETTY IMAGES).

During service, conscripts receive high-quality training and, upon completion, are drafted into the Defense Forces reserve.

Finland is one of the countries that more spending goes to the army in the EU and its total number of recruits is one of the largest in proportion to its total population of just over 5 million.

Large reserves by law

Finland also stands out for its developed storage system for key assets and resources that are ready for times of crisis.

Each year, representatives from the food, energy and telecommunications sectors meet to carefully review the issues affecting their sectors.

“They are expensive reserves to maintain. It is a highly developed system where private businesses are very involved. We are all involved in this approach to preparing our society,” explains Johanna Ketola, an expert in Finnish foreign security policies at the BBC World. Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

Finland during covid. (GETTY IMAGES).

Even before the pandemic, in this Nordic country there was already a mandate for producers and importers of medicines and food to maintain reserves of between three and 10 months of medicines for emergency supplies.

Although the arrival of the virus also discovered certain deficiencies that the country is now working to polish.

“A lot of our preparedness mechanisms hadn’t been tested for years, and in the pandemic it was seen that not everything was working as it should. I think it was a good warning of what we need to improve to feel safer,” says Lahtinen.

“But definitely, after the covid, many appreciate more that so much is invested in the preparation that we have,” he adds.

taught to be prepared

From childhood, Finns are taught about the need to be prepared and leave nothing to chance. It is a mentality forged because of the precarious geographical situation and war traumas From the past.

Tomi Rask, a civil defense trainer in Helsinki, recalls that since he was a child he was taught the need to be prepared and not leave anything to chance. (GETTY IMAGES).

“If you compare us with other Nordic countries, we have a very different logistical and geographical situation,” says Ketola.

“Finland is very isolated. Our supplies come through the Baltic Sea, but when instability increases in the area we have problems. The roads to mainland Europe pass through Sweden and are incredibly long,” he adds.

Thus it justifies part of this preparation at the highest level, although the latent threat of Russia, a country that vastly outnumbers it in population, size and power, is a vital component of this position.

“In some way, the history of Finland is connected to a neighbor to the east (Russia) with whom it has felt a frequent threat“, explains Lahtinen.

Between 1939 and 1944, Finland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) fought in two almost consecutive wars, known as winter war Y Continuation War. In both cases the result was decided for the Soviets, who managed to take over part of Finnish territory.

“The general feeling of those conflicts is that they left us alone and that left us traumatized,” says Ketola.

“That’s why it was important to be prepared with everything that is happening now with NATO accession,” adds Lahtinen.

Finland applied to join NATO along with Sweden on May 18 after historic public and political support.

“After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Finns’ perception of security changed very quickly. In this volatile situation we no longer want to be left alone again”, adds Ketola.

Source: Elcomercio