Now that Finland has withdrawn from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, it is time to take practical action. This means starting Finnish production of anti-personnel mines for both domestic use and for Ukraine.
The reason for this is, of course, the military threat posed by Russia—something that can no longer be ignored since Putin’s “special operation” initiated the attempt to conquer Ukraine. This is true even though the Russians have been unable to bring the operation to completion; instead, it has become more like a Moloch’s maw, fed with the lives of Russian soldiers.
The Finnish arms industry is currently doing quite well in general. A sign of this was, for example, the clear growth in both turnover and operating profit for the defense equipment manufacturer Patria in the January–June period.
Turnover increased by around 12 percent and operating profit by as much as 35 percent. In addition, the company’s order backlog showed a modest increase. In the future, most of the growth is expected to come from the armored vehicle sector, but the company has also recently invested—based on lessons from the war in Ukraine—particularly in drone technology.
It remains to be seen whether the Finnish defense industry is experiencing a renaissance now that the country is a member of the Western defense alliance NATO and has the best preparedness in Europe to take advantage of a networked economy—something that will be a key factor in high-innovation sectors like defense in the coming years.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finland Decides to Withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty — But What Business Is It of Guterres?
The Poor Can't Afford to Buy Second-best
Finland Boosts Military Self-Sufficiency and Support for Ukraine
First World War;fire stronger than movement. Second World War; movement stronger than fire. As of now;fire stroger than movement.
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