On a windswept island off the coast of Helsinki, Finns from all walks of life have come to spend their weekend in military training, with a surge of volunteers as their country wants to join NATO to protect itself from the Russia.
While Finland’s military numbers just 13,000 professionals, the country of 5.5 million people boasts an impressive 900,000 reservists with a wartime army capable of reaching 280,000 troops. The symbol of a country that has always wanted to remain ready to face the worst. For many of those present on this May Saturday on the military island of Santahamina, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call.
From the first week of the war in Ukraine, enrollment in voluntary defense programs soared. “The interest has been about ten times higher than normal years,” said Ossi Hietala, 29, a representative of MPK, the Finnish National Defense Training Association. Instead of 600 per week, the number of volunteers has soared to 6,000, prompting the Finnish state to pay an extension of three million euros to the MPK.