Europe must act with urgency on defence, warns Finland’s minister

Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has called on Europe and NATO to urgently accelerate defence investments, warning that the continent is “in a race against time” to strengthen its capabilities against Russian threats.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore, Häkkänen said Europe must move faster on building its proposed “drone wall” to counter increasing incursions into NATO airspace, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

“When they [Russia] were running out of missiles they started to produce lots of drones, which is why this has changed the threat picture,” he said.

Häkkänen cautioned that shooting down drones in civilian areas poses huge risks. “Everyone has a challenge on how to counter drone threats in a cost-effective way without too much collateral damage especially if it's happening nearby the airport,” he said.

He warned that Russia would exploit any weakness in Europe’s defences. “We know that Russia has always, throughout history, operated aggressively when they see the window of opportunity,” he said. “That’s what they thought in 2014 and 2022.”

The drone wall project, backed by the European Commission, is designed as an integrated network of sensors and defence systems across NATO’s eastern flank. But officials disagree on how quickly it could be operational, with Latvia’s prime minister saying it could be ready within 18 months, while Germany’s defence minister argued it would take three to four years.

Häkkänen also pressed NATO members to speed up defence spending, after allies agreed at the July summit in The Hague to raise contributions to 5% of GDP at the urging of U.S. President Donald Trump. “The NATO agreement was you have to be fully ready to 3.5% spending in 10 years. No, no, you have to start immediately,” he said.

With Washington shifting its security focus toward the Indo-Pacific and halting direct military aid to Ukraine, Häkkänen said Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security. “The Europeans must pay their fair share and buy the equipment to fill the US gaps,” he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev