Arriving at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen (NCP) said that Finland's calculations of its defence expenditures do not include the costs related to general conscription.
A day earlier, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte raised eyebrows by using Finland as an example of those allies who are expanding their defence budgets.
"If the costs of military conscription in Finland are included, it will increase the budget to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2029," he said during a press conference on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Finnish government announced that Finland intends to raise its defence spending to three percent of gross domestic product (GDP). However, Finland has never asked for Nato to include the costs of maintaining conscription forces as part of its defence spending.
Finnish official sources told Yle that Finland has not considered it sensible or useful to make such a calculation. However, they said that Rutte's estimate was in the right order of magnitude.
However, Yle has learned that Finnish officials have maintained close contact with Nato regarding the country’s defence budget.
According to Valtonen, Finland wants to keep allies aware of the costs of its conscription system, because it is a key part of Finland's defence capabilities. However, in her view, Nato's current calculation model for defence spending is correct and Finland does not intend to ask for conscription costs to be included in it. European Nato members currently have a defence spending target of two percent of GDP.
Every male Finnish citizen aged 18-60 is liable for military service, while women can apply for military service on a voluntary basis.
Transatlantic ties "remain strong"
According to Valtonen, the relationship between the United States and its European Nato allies remains strong regardless of tariff decisions and disputes over Greenland.
"Europe must take greater responsibility for its security as Nato strengthens its deterrence and defence. Cooperation between the EU and Nato is of key importance, for example, in terms of defence industry development, resilience and countering hybrid threats," Valtonen said.
Besides Nato foreign ministers, the two-day meeting will include EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chief Kaja Kallas as well as the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Japan, as well as representatives of Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.