Finland plans to raise reservists' age limit to add 125,000 troops to wartime army
STOCKHOLM, May 14 (Reuters) - The government of NATO-member Finland wants to raise the upper age limit of its army reservists to 65, it said on Wednesday, which would add 125,000 troops to the its wartime strength and take the number of reservists to one million by 2031.
Military service is compulsory for men in Finland, which joined the Western military alliance two years ago in response to neighbouring Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis. After military service, conscripts are mustered out into the reserve.
Male citizens are currently liable for military service until the age of 60, but the government has sent out for comments a draft proposal on raising the age limit.
"Finland's defence capability is based on general conscription, a trained reserve and a strong will to defend the country," Minister of Defence Antti Hakkanen, said in a statement. "By raising the maximum age of reservists we are giving more people the possibility to participate in national defence," he said.
Finland's military reserve currently amounts to 870,000 troops, and the change in upper age would take the number to around one million in 2031.
Government proposals in Finland are sent out for comments to concerned parties before being given to the parliament for lawmakers to debate and eventually vote on.
Compulsory military service in Finland lasts either 165, 255 or 347 days, with the longer period applying to officers, non-commissioned officers and conscripts being trained for especially demanding duties.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
15 minutes ago
- Reuters
Kenya police fire teargas to break up protests over blogger's death in custody
NAIROBI, June 12 (Reuters) - Kenyan police on Thursday fired teargas to disperse dozens of protesters in Nairobi who were demonstrating against the death of a blogger in police custody last week, Reuters TV footage showed.
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
UN nuclear watchdog says Iran in breach of obligations, Iran announces counter-measures
VIENNA/DUBAI, June 12 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's board of governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on Thursday and Tehran announced counter-measures, as tensions rose in the Middle East before further U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks. U.S. and Iranian officials will hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's accelerating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, the Omani foreign minister said on Thursday. But security fears have risen since U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday American personnel were being moved out of the region because "it could be a dangerous place" and that Tehran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency's policy-making Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years, raising the prospect of reporting it to the U.N. Security Council. The step is the culmination of several stand-offs between the Vienna-based IAEA and Iran since Trump pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in 2018 during his first term, after which that accord unravelled. An IAEA official said Iran had responded by informing the nuclear watchdog that it plans to open a new uranium enrichment facility. The move by Iran was among several measures being taken because of the resolution, Iranian state TV said. The IAEA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iran had given no further details such as the location of the site. Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for Iran's atomic energy organisation, told state TV that Tehran had informed the IAEA of two countermeasures including "the upgrading of centrifuges in Fordow (enrichment plant) from first to sixth generation, which will significantly boost the production of enriched uranium". Enrichment can be used to produce uranium for reactor fuel or, at higher levels of refinement, for atomic bombs. Iran says its nuclear energy programme is only for peaceful purposes. Reiterating Iran's stance that it will not abandon the right to nuclear enrichment as a signatory to the global Non-Proliferation Treaty, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that rising tensions in the region were intended to "influence Tehran to change its position about its nuclear rights." The Iranian official said a "friendly" country had alerted Tehran to a potential strike on its nuclear sites by arch-adversary Israel and reiterated that the Islamic Republic would not abandon its commitment to nuclear enrichment. "We don't want tensions and prefer diplomacy to resolve the (nuclear) issue, but our armed forces are fully ready to respond to any military strike," the Iranian official said. Iranian state media reported that Iran's military had begun drills earlier than planned to focus on "enemy movements". The decision by Trump to remove some personnel from the region comes at a volatile and highly sensitive moment in the oil-producing Middle East, where security has already been destabilised by the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas that began in October 2023. Oil prices initially rose after Trump's announcement but later eased. Foreign energy companies were continuing their operations as usual, a senior Iraqi official overseeing operations in southern oilfields told Reuters on Thursday. Trump has threatened to strike Iran if the nuclear talks do not progress, and in an interview released on Wednesday said he had become less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium. The Islamic Republic wants a lifting of the U.S. sanctions imposed on the country since 2018.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
Wall Street futures slip as Middle East tensions rise; Boeing falls
June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Thursday as signs of rising tensions in the Middle East weighed on risk sentiment and investors sought more clarity on Washington's recent trade deals with China. Shares of planemaker Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab lost 7% premarket after an Air India aircraft with more than 200 people crashed in India's western city of Ahmedabad, and aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East as it could be a "dangerous place", adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This comes at a volatile time for the region and just days ahead of a planned sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. A senior Iranian official said earlier on Wednesday Tehran will strike U.S. bases in the region if nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises. China on Thursday affirmed a trade deal with the U.S., strengthening a delicate truce in the trade war that has roiled global markets for much of the year. "Now that a consensus has been reached, both sides should abide by it," Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson for China, said at a regular news conference. Traders also looked to gain more details on the trade framework discussed by officials from the U.S. and China at a two-day talk in London earlier this week. At 05:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 228 points, or 0.53%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 19.75 points, or 0.34%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 56.25 points, or 0.26% Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab shares lost 1.1% and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab lost about 0.7%. Among other movers, Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab shares rose 7.6% after the cloud service provider raised its annual revenue growth forecast citing increased demand from companies deploying artificial intelligence. After a tame inflation report on Wednesday that provided investors with some reprieve, focus will now be on the May Producer Price Index data, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, along with initial jobless claims data. "May could be too soon to see the impact of tariffs, but softer demand may also be limiting pass through. We pencil in larger tariff effects starting later in the summer," said Citigroup strategists in a client note. With investor bets increasing on Trump reaching favorable trade agreements with several trading partners in the coming weeks, the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX), opens new tab is trading 2% below its record high touched in February. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab is about 2.7% from record levels hit in December.
