Finnish intelligence says Russia remains country’s top security threat

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Finnish intelligence said on Tuesday that Russia continues to be the country’s top security threat.

“Russia continues to pose a serious threat to Finland, with no improvement in sight. Russian resources will be freed up for influencing elsewhere when the war in Ukraine ends,” said the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service in a statement.

Maintaining that the end of the war in Ukraine will improve Russia’s ability to engage in hostile activity elsewhere in Europe, the service added: “Finland has not yet become a focus of the intense influencing that has primarily targeted major EU Member States and countries with large Russian minorities or pro-Russia political parties. This will probably change when Russia is able to redeploy the resources that are currently tied up in Ukraine.”

“The Western intelligence community has a highly uniform view of the growing threat from Russia. As a country that borders Russia and as a state on the Baltic Sea, Finland must prepare for growth in Russian influencing," Supo director Juha Martelius was quoted as saying in the statement.

At 1,343 kilometers (834 miles), Finland has the longest border of any European Union member state with Russia.

The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939. The Winter War, as it is known, lasted for over three months and despite heavy losses, the USSR won.

Spurred by the Ukraine war, Finland joined the NATO military alliance in April 2023.