Oras Tynkkynen, the chairman of the Green parliamentary group, spoke on Saturday, at the Green party conference in Hämeenlinna. Source: Lehtikuva, Roni Rekomaa
Finland’s far-right government, discredited in recent local elections, is set to raise military spending to five percent of GDP after the NATO summit in June. The opposition in a country whose economy has been virtually stagnant since 2007 is demanding a thorough debate on the issue in parliament.
Finland announced in April 2025 that it plans to increase defense spending to a minimum of 3 percent GDP in the next four years, which means that Finnish Defense Forces will receive “additional funding” amounting to €3.7 billion ($4 billion) by 2029.
In December 2024, Finland’s Ministry of Defense unveiled a robust defense budget of 6.5 billion euros for the upcoming year, reflecting a notable increase of 536 million euros from the current fiscal year. The budget for 2025 highlights a strategic focus on fortifying national defense capabilities and furthering Finland’s alignment with NATO objectives, with defense expenditure projected to encompass roughly 2.5 per cent of the nation’s GDP.
Military spending is thus set to double in a country with one of the largest budget deficits in the EU and a virtually stagnant economy.
While the right-wing government had estimated the 2024 deficit to be 3.7 per cent of GDP, latest statistics office data showed it had reached 12.2 billion euros, or 4.4 per cent, well above the European Union 3 per cent limit.
The government now expects a 12.3 billion euro deficit in 2025, which roughly corresponds to a military budget of five percent of the country’s GDP.
The opposition parties, the Greens, the Social Democratic Party and the Center Party, want more discussion about major increases in defense spending.
The government has outlined its support for raising NATO countries’ defense spending to five percent of GDP. That would mean a big increase in defense spending for Finland as well.
The Greens’ group leader Oras Tynkkynen criticized the government’s handling of the matter on June 8. Tynkkynen demanded that there should be a thorough parliamentary debate on strengthening defense, in which both the government and opposition parties would participate.
I don’t know when such huge decisions have been made in Finland so hastily and on such flimsy grounds. The annual impact of five percent is billions of euros.
Later, the chair of the SDP parliamentary group, Tytti Tuppurainen, also joined the criticism. She commented to Suomen Kuvalehti that she would like a parliamentary position to be formed on the matter. However, in her opinion, the matter has been discussed in Parliament in a “satisfactory manner.”
In a statement she sent, Tuppurainen demands a clear proposal from the government and Prime Minister Petteri Orpol on financing the increases in defense spending. The chairman of the Centre Party and former Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen also told Suomen Kuvalehti that he considers the parliamentary process “quite lame so far”.
There has been information, but not actual negotiations between the parties, he tells the newspaper.
Both Tynkkynen and Kaikkonen state, however, that they support additional investments in defence.
Orpo: The government has a mandate
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stressed that the government wanted a parliamentary debate. He says that he had a discussion with all parliamentary parties a couple of to three weeks ago.
However, Orpo pointed out that technically the government has a mandate to decide on the matter.
The NATO summit will discuss the matter in The Hague at the end of June.
Once the NATO summit has been held, I will give the Prime Minister’s announcement to Parliament on the matter, which will provide a clear forum for a parliamentary debate on this whole issue, Orpo said.
Political researchers consider the opposition’s criticism a healthy turn
Political scientist Emilia Palonen from the University of Helsinki considers the discussion opened by Tynkkynen to be a clear change from the previous one.
It is quite understandable that two years before the next elections, different options and different policies are being presented, Palonen says.
The decision to increase defense spending by NATO member states should be made at the summit in The Hague, Netherlands, at the end of June.
Palonen confirms that defense policy has indeed been made by consensus among the different parties recently. Finland has joined NATO and will increase defense spending to at least three percent by 2029 without major controversy.
On June 7, the opposition opened its mouth even wider.
After Tynkkynen, other parties outside the government also woke up to criticize the government’s actions. The possible increase in defense spending by billions annually has been left for little discussion in the opinion of others.
Professor Markku Jokisipilä from the University of Turku also sees a turn in the political discussion this weekend.
Yes, this can be seen as a small change, Jokisipilä says in a telephone interview.
Jokisipilä heads the Center for Parliamentary Research at the University of Turku. He reminds us that in foreign and security policy, there has traditionally been an effort to achieve national consensus, at least on basic issues.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo defended himself after criticism from the Green parliamentary group leader Tynkkynen.
The increase in appropriations has been discussed among NATO countries recently. Petteri Orpo has said that Finland supports the goal of increasing spending to five percent of GDP. According to Orpo, the increase in defense spending compared to the current level would mean 1.5–2 billion euros per year.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also pointed out that the government has the authority to push ahead with the increase in appropriations on its own.
The Prime Minister’s remark about the government’s authority is a thorn in the side of researcher Emilia Palonen.
I am a little concerned about Petteri Orpo’s position that they have a mandate to do whatever they want, Palonen says.
Palonen adds that the government is of course responsible for the decisions and decides because they have a majority in Parliament.
According to the researcher, however, there is a need to discuss the increase in billions in spending extensively in Parliament.
The five percent defense budget is already quite high by international standards, and at the same time, the government has pursued a policy of austerity – that is, where this money will come from, Palonen specifies the need for discussion.
In Palonen’s opinion, we should also discuss where the billions will go.
Should we invest in, for example, the defense industry company Patria or in the number of reservists, how will the money benefit Finland both in terms of defense policy and the national economy?
Palonen reminds us that the opposition has an obligation to create a discussion.
Professor Markku Jokisipilä is also stirring up the opposition. It too has its own way of getting things discussed.
He considers it a matter of taste whether the government has discussed the increase in appropriations enough in Parliament. He adds that he does not know of any rule that requires a certain type of discussion for a decision of a certain size.
That when a certain billion threshold is exceeded in an investment decision, there must be a broad discussion in Parliament, Jokisipilä says.
Source:
- Researchers: There was a turning point in the debate on defense spending – opposition criticism broke the consensus / Yle (in Finnish)
- Government outlines major increases in defense spending – opposition roars / Yle (in Finnish)
- Finland pledges defense spending increase to 3 percent GDP by 2029 / Breaking Defense
- Finland’s Ministry of Defence announces 6.5 billion euro budget for 2025 / Dimsum Daily