Lithuania’s Minister of Defence Dovilė Šakalienė met with Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen / image Lith. Def. min.
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Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė said Finland is preparing for full-scale conflict with extensive measures, following her official visit to Helsinki this week.
She met with Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen and Chair of the Finnish Parliament’s Defence Committee Jukka Kopra, discussing Finland’s total defence approach and its relevance to Central and Eastern European countries.
Finland’s total defence model involves cooperation across all sectors of society. It includes mandatory military service, a broad reserve force, and regular crisis training exercises. Šakalienė said Finland’s strategy offered valuable lessons for countries facing growing security threats.
“Happy to see dear colleague Finland’s MoD @anttihakkanen. Around 80% of Finns are willing to militarily defend their country. 91% believe Finland should defend their allies. 900k people in reserve + constant training = almost invincible strategy of total defence,” Šakalienė posted on X.
She said Finland’s readiness allows its citizens to remain calm despite heightened geopolitical risks. She also confirmed Lithuania’s intention to cooperate on ammunition production with Nammo, a Nordic defence manufacturer.
Šakalienė added that both countries would push for increased NATO defence spending ahead of the July summit in The Hague. She called for stronger European capabilities and emphasised the role of a continued US military presence in the region.
She said the meeting also covered support for Ukraine, including training and equipping a brigade-sized unit from Nordic-Baltic countries, and cooperation in defence industries.
“Today, my guest was the Minister of Defense of Lithuania, Dovilė Šakalienė. Excellent discussions on current security issues,” Häkkänen posted on X. “We are deepening defence cooperation between our countries. Finland and Lithuania share views on supporting Ukraine, strengthening the EU’s defence capabilities, and security issues in the Baltic Sea. We also discussed mines and the Ottawa Treaty.”
During the visit, Šakalienė met with Dag Schjerven, vice chair of Nammo AS, which specialises in precision ammunition. She also visited the Jaeger Brigade, an elite Finnish military unit based in Lapland.
Lithuania is seeking stronger bilateral cooperation with Finland in military engineering and total defence policy. Areas of interest include reserve organisation, national mobilisation systems, and the strategic use of mines.
In Finland, most men aged 18 to 60 serve in the military, reserves, or auxiliary reserves. The Finnish Defence Forces train around 22,000 conscripts annually, including about 1,000 women. The total number of trained reservists is about 900,000.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
