Keijo Katainen started his military service less than two months before Russia attacked Ukraine. He left the reserve a little over a year ago.
Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (kok) told last Thursday Kyrönmaa magazine in the interview that he intends to prevent leaving the reserve by changing the legislation.
After the minister's exit, resignations from the reserve have been sought more diligently than usual.
Civil Service Director of the Civil Service Center Mikko Reijonen told HS via e-mail that by Tuesday evening, 878 reservists had already applied for resignation during February. In the whole of last year, about 1,650 people left the reserve.
HS asked readers if they have left the reserve. By Tuesday evening, there were 54 responses. Some of the respondents said they had divorced, some had not, but said they understood those who did.
Some, on the other hand, have not even considered leaving the reserve, not when Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine at the end of February 2022, and not when Finland applied for NATO membership.
in Joensuu resident, currently 21 years old Keijo Katainen completed his conscript service in the Kainuu brigade's first arrival batch of 2022.
According to Katainen, motivation was perhaps not quite at its peak when he joined the service.
“Rather, we went there with the attitude that why not, when everyone else seemed to be going too,” he says.
The feeling quickly disappeared when Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022. According to Katainen, the Russian attack “hit close”.
“We started thinking there in the brigade that for a while, the war could in principle come here as well, and then we would have to go to the front. Quite concretely. That thought kept bothering me for the rest of my military service.”
Katainen began to question the whole system.
“I served in a mission where I tried to avoid this kind of 'real' military training, because the thought of it was somehow unnerving,” he says.
Juniper repatriated in June 2022. He felt it was wrong to stay in the reserve, despite the fact that he might not get directly to the front if Finland had to be defended.
“It bothered me. At that time, Finnish society was undergoing a change anyway, where militarism really blossomed. I didn't agree very widely with the discussion that took place at the time, although on a moral level I support Ukraine”, says Katainen.
Towards the end of the year, it seemed strongly that Finland would apply for NATO membership. Katainen applied to resign from the reserve.
It was December 2022. At the beginning of January 2023, he was advised to apply for a supplementary service batch.
Katainen completed a five-day supplementary training last August in Lapinjärvi.
Katainen says that he wouldn't even be able to return to the reserve if he were to change his mind.
“That door is closed. As soon as you enter (advanced training), you are told that once you put your name here, you can no longer go back to the reserve.”
Continuing education according to Katainen, the content was rather meaningless. It was good too. In Lapinjärvi, you could talk with others who made the same decision.
“During those days, it was completely confirmed that I made the right decision, and I haven't regretted it,” says Katainen.
Of course, Katainen has also followed the discussion that arose from Häkkänen's interview. For him, Häkkänen's comment was populist.
“I thought that they were trying to bring up militarism again. What surprised me the most was the choice of words “stitches to hands”. Is it really necessary to find a special section by force in order to prevent leaving the reserve?”, Katainen asks.
Part Among the respondents to HS's survey, most chose conscript service because it was perceived as an “easy” alternative to civilian service. According to others, there is still some kind of stigma attached to civil service.
I thought it was easier to join the army, but it turned out to be the hardest six months of my life. I hated those people. That place was full of toxic masculinity, homophobia, misogyny and racism.” Male, 23, Helsinki
Some decide to leave the reserve at the point when the mail brings an invitation to refresher exercises. So did a 37-year-old man from Espoo.
“I had been thinking about it for a long time, but the final straw was when I received a repeat invitation at a time when I would have started my studies in Sweden. This was not a sufficient reason for exemption from repetitions.”
The 54-year-old man from Helsinki says that he once thought about civil service, but still ended up doing conscript service. He writes that he left the reserve at the turn of the year.
“Being over 50 years old, I am not obliged by law to do supplementary service. I've always been a pacifist, I hate guns and violence.”
The identities of the interviewees used in the story are known to HS editorial staff.
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