Russia is strengthening its strategic assets in the Arctic and building new facilities along the border with Finland, so European countries need to monitor the Arctic and build Arctic deterrence capabilities.
This was stated by Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkänen in an interview with Euronews.
According to him, the Arctic is critically important for European defense.
“Russia has most of its major strategic capabilities in nuclear weapons, submarines and long-range bombers in the Kola Peninsula area. They are building new military facilities along our border, just like they did during the Cold War. It would be wise to monitor the Arctic and build up Arctic deterrence capabilities,” Hakkänen said.
The Kola Peninsula — a 100,000 sq km region in Russia's far northwest — contains most of the country's maritime strategic nuclear arsenal, such as submarines, as well as long-range aircraft.
Hakkänen, whose country joined NATO in 2023 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, welcomed the Alliance's updated defense planning in the High North, but noted that the region's security should have been considered a priority years ago: “This is old news.”
He said the Finnish armed forces are “fully Arctic” and ready to share their experience with allies to better protect the region.
The EU, according to the Finnish minister, is learning the right lessons from the war in Ukraine and is working to strengthen its defense and take on more responsibility for its defense.
Hakkänen also sought to downplay concerns that the US is not as committed to Europe's collective defense as it once was.
In his opinion, the US remains “unwavering” in fulfilling NATO's core guarantees under Article 5 of collective defense, and added that “in the short term, this is the only option for Europe” to fully guarantee deterrence.
“In the long term, it would be better if the Europeans had their own strong capabilities. But in the short term, and even in the medium term, we need the United States. This is crucial for European security,” said the Finnish Defense Minister.