Finland defense minister calls for burden sharing on defense and Ukraine, for the sake of European unity

HELSINKI, Finland — No European country should shirk its responsibility for defense spending and financial support to Ukraine, Finland's Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said during a group interview with journalists in the Finnish capital of Helsinki on Nov. 5.

If Russia identifies a "political opportunity" to attack Europe, it "can use power to challenge our European values," Hakkanen told journalists.

"That does not stop at Ukraine," he added.

In recent years, Finland has significantly bolstered its defense spending, become a major supporter of Ukraine, and further integrated itself into NATO, which it joined in 2023.

While Hakkanen says that Finland maintains its "own independent analysis" of the threat posed by Russia, he sees no difference between Finnish security interests and those of Europe as a whole.

"What we need to defend ourselves, Europe needs," Hakkanen said, noting that analysis from Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, is appreciated by many European allies.

Now, he wants to make sure the whole of Europe is aligned as Ukraine's financial and military needs continue to grow.

"Ukraine has two big challenges: money and air defense. Money should have been the easiest for Europe," Hakkanen said.

He told reporters that the bloc is spending at most 0.2% of its GDP on support for Ukraine, "sometimes less, it is nothing."

Hakkanen thinks countries should get in line with a pledge to provide 0.25% of GDP in support of Ukraine, which Kyiv has identified as the right percentage to keep it financially afloat, and which some countries — Estonia and Lithuania, for example — have already pledged.

Likewise, with Russia ramping up its hybrid attacks on Europe, Hakkanen warned that if the continent fails to bolster its defenses, "the whole of Europe will be in chaos."

"Also Belgium, also Spain," Hakkanen said, in response to questions from journalists from those two countries, which are among those spending the lowest percentages of GDP on defense.

For Hakkanen, Europe's exclusion from some peace talks with Russia makes it clear that "if Europeans are too weak, we don't have a seat at the table."

"If we are not doing this together, what is the point of European unity?" Hakkanen asked.