Helsinki plans major defence build-up amid budget cuts elsewhere

Finland will increase defence spending to 3.2% of gross domestic product by 2030, the government said, as it decided ​to cut other expenditure and drafted its budget for the next ‌four years.

Finland's economy has been ailing since neighbouring Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting Helsinki to join the NATO military alliance ​in 2023 and increase defence spending, which stood at 2.5% ​of GDP in 2025, Reuters reports.

A rise to 3.2% spending on ⁠defence by 2030 would bring Finland closer to NATO's target ​of 3.5% by 2035.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that the government would direct the increased money in the near term to military recruitment, refresher courses for reservists, drone defence and explosive production.

Orpo's right-wing ​coalition announced further spending cuts, including healthcare and social services, ​on top of previous austerity measures with which it has sought but failed ‌to ⁠curb a growing public debt ratio projected to breach 90% of GDP in 2026.

Finland had a budget gap equivalent to 4.4% of GDP in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025, which led the ​EU to start disciplinary ​steps against it ⁠for running an excessive deficit. It gave Helsinki until 2028 to narrow the gap to within ​EU limits of 3% of GDP.

The government did ​not immediately ⁠publish a fresh estimate of the budget gap for coming years.

The unpopular austerity measures have led to declining support for the government ⁠ahead ​of next year's parliamentary election, with two ​in three respondents saying the government had performed poorly in a recent survey by ​pollster Verian.

By Vafa Guliyeva