President Sauli Niinistö spoke at the opening ceremony of the national defence course in Helsinki on Monday. Photo – Lehtikuva.
President Sauli Niinistö on Monday said the Finnish readiness to act in various crisis situations and the applicability of the current Emergency Powers Act must be examined critically.
“Is it possible that the current way of working could be streamlined and expedited? In all circumstances, it must be clear that exceptional circumstances should be handled without problems. Currently, there is a hole between the powers during normal times and those during a state of emergency,” Niinistö told the opening ceremony of a national defence course.
According to Niinistö, this hole should be investigated and, if necessary, closed.
“The so-called ‘contingency legislation’ is quite old. On the other hand, hybrid threats are developing all the time. Now we must be careful in our readiness that our legislation takes into account other threats than those old-fashioned elements, when tanks were at our borders,” Niinistö told reporters after the ceremony.
The issue is determining what constitutes a threat that it requires crisis or contingency measures and powers.
“The detection and determination of the threshold must now verify that it is capable of considering hybrid threats,” said the president.
