Deutsche Presse-Agentur
May 3, 2015
900,000 Finnish army reservists sent letter on «crisis situation»
Helsinki: The Finnish Defence Forces have sent a letter to 900,000 reservists to explain what their role would be in a “crisis situation,” a news report revealed Sunday.
The letter, sent at the beginning of May, told the reservists that “conscription is the cornerstone of Finland‘s defence capability” and asked them to update their contact details and their military rank.
Defence Minister Carl Haglund denied on broadcaster Yle that the letter had anything to do with heightened tensions with neighbouring Russia.
Russian planes have repeatedly violated Finnish air space in recent months.
On Tuesday, the Finnish Navy located an unidentified underwater vehicle off the capital Helsinki and fired warning shots at it.
Finland and neighbouring Sweden do not belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defence alliance.
The letter to reservists had been publicized on Finnish television with the direct appeal, “We want to have a word with you.”
Haglund added Sunday: “Many reservists are interested to know what role they would have, and they are motivated to be a part of the defence of this nation. Therefore it is good that we inform them regularly what we have planned for them.”
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