The Finnish government prepared a draft budget for 2023, which provides funds to help Ukraine and build a fence on the border with Russia.

Finland proposes to increase the budget of the Finnish Defense Forces by €1.5 million to cover the costs of assistance to Ukraine, as well as to allocate additional funds for the replacement of defense equipment supplied to Ukraine. This will raise the budget of the Defense Forces to €74 million, valtioneuvosto.fi reported.

In addition, the Government of Finland proposes to provide €30 million in support through contributions to international funds or as direct support. Part of these funds will be transferred to the Embassy of Finland in Ukraine for procurement from Finnish defense industry enterprises.

In the draft budget of Finland, the government has allocated €6 million for the Eastern Border Barrier pilot project, which provides for the construction of a fence on the border with Russia.

The construction of the fence will begin with a pilot section of 3 kilometers in length in 2023. The pilot will test the construction method, functionality, border control, and model of cooperation with the owners of borderland plots.

  • Finland has already provided 9 packages of military assistance to Ukraine, the last one was approved in early October. The total value of the assistance is estimated at €93 million.
  • Finland asked EU for common rules on visa invalidation & entry ban for Russians.