President Halonen insists on UN or OSCE mandate for troop deployment

Admiral Kaskeala defends conscription system, calls for closures of garrisons

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President Tarja Halonen does not want to change the stipulations of the present law on peacekeeping operations, under which Finnish forces can only take part in a crisis management operation if the action has a mandate from the United Nations or the Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
      Speaking in Helsinki at the opening of the latest National Defence Course on Monday, Halonen said that only the UN Security Council can authorise the use of force for purposes other than self-defence. She said that those calling for changes in the law on peacekeeping "should keep this principle of international law firmly in mind".
      A group of civil servants is currently working on a proposal to reform the law on peacekeeping. It is scheduled to issue its proposal in early May.
     
Finland's Chief of Defence, Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, called for decisions on cutbacks on the network of military garrisons. Kaskeala says that decisions need to be made soon, if savings are to be achieved from 2008.
      He also insisted that small cutbacks here and there were not enough, and that entire garrisons would have to be closed down.
      Kaskeala said that there is no point having conscripts "hang around in the corners of barracks" if the resources are spent on maintaining an oversized organisation, instead of real activities.
      In previous comments, Kaskeala has said that Finland needs to shut down four garrisons by 2012. He has not said which of the units should go.
     
Kaskeala dedicated the main part of his speech to defending the Finnish system of conscription.
      He emphasised the high level of education that Finnish reservists have, compared with those who are recruited into volunteer armies. He said that professional armies cannot even dream of the number of experts in information technology that Finland has in its military reserve.
      Kaskeala also said that Finland cannot afford the kind of selective conscription system recently proposed by the Green League. He said that nearly all reservists aged 20 - 40 would be needed in wartime.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Support in Defence Committee for EU mandate for deployment of forces (13.18.2005)
  Government defence policy report released - armed forces to cut over 1,000 jobs (27.9.2004)

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