Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen (kok) says that the ban on leaving the reserve will not be promoted now. The question can be considered in connection with the defense report.
Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (kok) now says that he should have phrased his words better regarding the possible denial of leaving the reserve.
“The words should have been put better, that's obvious. The matter went to the wrong gang,” Häkkänen said on Tuesday in the parliament.
Discourse At the end of last week, Häkkänen made a fuss about the ban on leaving the reserve Kyrönmaa magazine in the interview that he intends to find ways to make leaving the reserve no longer possible in the future.
After Häkkänen's statement, the resignation from the reserve accelerated.
An exceptionally large number of reservists, already more than 650, have submitted applications during February, HS said on Monday.
Häkkänen emphasizes that the scale of the issue is small. The will to defend the country is strong, and the size of the reserve is 900,000, he says.
“This topic has always caused a stir. Our performance or defense has not been compromised in any way.”
Häkkänen stresses that the ban on leaving the reserve is not on the Ministry of Defense's list of key projects. The resources for drafting the law are tied to, for example, NATO and defense cooperation issues and the development of conscription.
“We will not promote this now. This is not on the list of projects we promote.”
Leaving the reserve means that a person who has been in the army will go into civilian service. The application must state that reasons based on conviction prevent armed service.
Häkkänen no longer takes a precise position on what should actually be done to leave the reserve.
However, he reminds us of the trend whereby withdrawal from the reserve accelerates whenever there are changes in the security situation. Even in the future, there may be unexpected changes in the security situation, so it would be good to think about it well in advance.
Häkkänen also points out that he is not the only one who is worried about it. Defense forces commented on Monday To Yle, that the ban on leaving the reserve should be reviewed.
According to Häkkänen, the question can be considered in connection with the future defense report, while the reform of the civil service is being considered.
Among other things the coalition's presidential candidate Alexander Stubb and a candidate for the Electoral Association Pekka Haavisto (vihr) rejected the idea of banning the withdrawal from the reserve in the HS interviews.
“I understand that there are certainly hectic weeks going on,” Häkkänen says of the criticism.
Häkkänen emphasizes that he did not actually open the issue, but the issue came up through a question from a local newspaper.
“Everyone as an individual has the right to make their own decisions,” he says.
He adds that even though the issue of reservist differences is small in scale, solutions must be considered as far in advance as possible.
Read more: Already more than 650 have applied to leave the reserve – Defense Minister Häkkänen's statement caused a spike
Read more: Minister Häkkänen's proposal gets knocked out – but would it be legally possible?
Read more: The Finnish system would not be able to withstand women's conscription, says Stubb
Read more: Haavisto on the Defense Minister's reservist comment: “A little thoughtless”
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