Finland joining NATO is huge

Matthew Day at the Telegraph writes:

Finland formally became the 31st member of Nato this week, ditching decades of non-alignment to join the military alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. …

The legacy of the Winter War still casts a shadow over Finland. The conflict, also known as the First Finnish-Soviet War, saw Finland’s armed forces inflict monumental casualties on a vast invading Red Army during the bitter winter months of 1939/40.

The war, which resulted in territorial losses for Finland, taught the Finns the need for an army capable of deterring Russia from ever invading again. …

Under the Finnish constitution, every male citizen aged between 18 and 60 is liable for call-up, and each year some 22,000 men join the army. This means that Finland’s tiny standing army of around 19,000 can quickly grow to 280,000, while thousands more could also be mobilised in a time of national crisis.

Conscription also remains popular in Finland; built upon a broad societal understanding of the need to maintain national defence. A poll from December 2021, for example, revealed that 84 per cent of Finns were willing to defend their country to the best of their abilities.

In line with this defensive posture, Finland has invested heavily in big guns, giving it one of the strongest artillery forces in Europe. It now has some 1,500 weapons, including 700 howitzers and cannons and 100 heavy and light rocket launchers.

It also boasts a tank force of around 650 armoured vehicles, which includes 200 German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks, putting it on a par with any army in Europe, including Britain.

Pushing Finland (and Sweden) into NATO has been a huge blunder for Putin. This is not some tiny country joining, but a very well trained and equipped force.