The thought expressed in the headline comes from Pami Aalto (Pami Aalto), professor of international relations at Tampere University.
Responsibility for guarding the forested eastern border of NATO lies with the Border Guard. Forests are undoubtedly important for Finland's overall security: the country's eastern border is roughly 1300 kilometres long, and it is also the eastern border of the European Union and NATO. Guarding it involves a combination of technology, skills and experience accumulated over decades. Finns have always known how to work in the forest, and many such people also live close to the eastern border.
In south-eastern Finland, in the village of Jukajärvi (Jukajärvi) in the municipality of Sulkava, about 50 kilometres from the Russian border, the Border Guard has an important training area of roughly 1300 hectares. Its size is perhaps easier to grasp if you picture it as a square with sides of almost 4 kilometres.
On a cool November day, visitors are welcomed by a campfire and coffee brewed over it. The way the information event is organised reflects one of the founding principles of Finnish security policy – cooperation. The coffee was provided by the landowner, who put together the day's programme together with the Border Guard.
The cooperation we encounter at Jukajärvi is a good example of how things are done in Finland. The training area is used by the national Border Guard, but at the same time it is a commercial forest, owned by the state and managed with all the forestry operations considered necessary. Responsibility for these lies with the manager and administrator of the state forests – Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.
Use of the forest based on joint decisions
The Border Guard and Metsähallitus have concluded a lease agreement setting out everything the Border Guard is permitted to do within the training area, and the ways in which Metsähallitus supports those activities. Forest management, for instance, is planned so as not to disrupt the Border Guard's schedule of exercises and training.
In the Jukajärvi forest, as in other state forests, most of the forest management work is carried out by subcontractors, which is another important form of cooperation. The people who come to work in the area have been cleared by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service; this applies to every single employee of Metsähallitus subcontractors.
The Border Guard, for its part, has undertaken to observe the environmental requirements set by Metsähallitus – nature may be used, but it must not be destroyed. If a few trees have to be felled for training purposes, that is permitted.
A distinctive feature of the training area and its surroundings are the hollows formed during the ice age. Forestry operations are not permitted in their vicinity, but they may be used during shooting exercises, provided they are not damaged.
“About 100 hectares are protected and excluded entirely from economic activity – springs, streams and herb-rich forest areas, for example. There are ecological corridors of about a hundred hectares in which natural values must not be damaged,” says Eeva-Liisa Jorri (Eeva-Liisa Jorri), regional director for Southern Finland at Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.
Visitors who wander in by accident are not a problem
The Jukajärvi ridge is covered by varied coniferous forests, with many bodies of water alternating with hills. “Terrain like this is very well suited to the Border Guard's needs,” says Heikki Ojala, deputy head of the Border and Coast Guard Academy, who manages the Jukajärvi training area on behalf of the Border Guard. The exercises held there involve both border guards from the South-East Finland Border Guard District and (mainly) those from the Border and Coast Guard Academy, located some 50 kilometres away in the town of Immola, right by the border.
Military service is compulsory for all adult Finnish men, and those who serve with the Border Guard are selected each year from among all the conscripts of that year. Women may also apply for voluntary military service with the Border Guard.
Unauthorised entry of any kind is prohibited in the Jukajärvi training area, including its airspace. The area is not fenced; during shooting exercises it is completely cordoned off, and information about such exercises is issued through every available channel.
Visitors do sometimes stray into the area, for all sorts of reasons, from curiosity to getting lost. Getting lost is no surprise, since Finland's forests are for the most part open to everyone, and it is easy to miss the warning signs placed along the boundary. So far such people have not caused any great problems.
The Jukajärvi march is still a living tradition
The Border Guard has been holding exercises in Jukajärvi since the early 1950s. Originally the troops marched on foot from Immola to Jukajärvi once a year; nowadays they travel by road. The training march on foot, more than 40 kilometres in full kit, remains a surviving tradition: in 2022 it was held for the 70th time.
The Border Guard operates in the region actively and continuously enough, though the intensity of that activity varies; sometimes it is patrols with dogs, at other times it may be hundreds of border guards.
Immola is where border guards are trained; this training differs from that of other conscripts – admission to the Border Guard, for example, is only by written application. The application deadline usually falls on 6 December, Finland's Independence Day. The admission criteria include physical fitness, health and resilience to stress.
Border guards are trained to carry out the tasks required in emergency conditions and in the event of war, such as demanding reconnaissance missions. They are trained in the use of weapons and in shooting, in guerrilla and engineering tasks, and in signals and medical duties, and of course in border surveillance as well. In addition, they acquire skills useful for carrying out individual assignments and for working in small groups. In practice, the skills of special border guards (also known as jaegers) match those of the Finnish Defence Forces' special units, including in urban operations. After training, border guards are transferred to the Border Guard reserve.
Specially trained border guards are ready to take on heavy duties. A rucksack with full equipment, for example, can weigh 50-60 kg. On patrol, each member of the patrol carries an assault rifle, and the patrol also has anti-tank missiles, light machine guns and sniper rifles. Patrol equipment also includes devices for target acquisition, in order to provide support for artillery, for instance. The annual number of applicants for border guard training is around 500.
The situation at the border is calm
Finland's border zone is at most three kilometres wide. Unauthorised entry into the zone is prohibited. The newest method used to monitor the border zone is unmanned aircraft, which the Border Guard began using in 2017. The smallest of them weigh 0.2-4 kilograms and can be bought by anyone. Some of the larger ones have been adapted for border surveillance. The drones are used for observation; they are not fitted with explosives.
Apart from the restrictions on entry, the forests in the border zone are ordinary, typical Finnish commercial forests, mostly owned by “ordinary Finns”. Permits to enter the border zone can be obtained in order to carry out forest management or other appropriate work. The Border Guard takes a positive view of permitted activities such as forest management in the border zone. Thanks to them, the border zone is also watched over by a good number of trustworthy local residents, who can supply a great deal of information about what is happening at the border.
“That is very important for the country's overall security,” confirms Pami Aalto, professor of international relations at Tampere University, in a telephone interview.
Forestry is practically the only sector of the economy that can operate throughout Finland at world market prices. In 2022, private forest owners sold timber worth a total of 2.6 billion euros.
“The vitality of the border regions, and safeguarding it, is essential to the country's overall security. The fact that people can find work and a livelihood in eastern Finland too makes the border an area worth defending,” stresses Aalto, who also points to the importance of forest biomass for overall security.
“Biomass is the main resource of small rural communities, one they can always rely on. It can also be the basis for producing new products, such as bioethanol, using renewable wind energy,” Aalto observes.
The visit to Jukajärvi comes to an end. The situation at the border is calm.
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