The Border Guard is responsible for the surveillance of NATO’s wooded eastern border. Forests are important for Finland’s overall security, says professor of international relations.
Finland’s eastern border, about 1,300 kilometres in length, is also the eastern border of the European Union and NATO. Keeping watch over the border involves a combination of technology, skill, and decades of experience. Finns have always known how to operate in a forest, and there is no shortage of those on the eastern border.
We find ourselves in the south-east of Finland, at Jukajärvi in the municipality of Sulkava, about 50 kilometres from the border towards Russia. Here, the Border Guard has an important practice range of about 1,300 hectares. The size of it can perhaps be better understood by imagining it as a square with sides of almost 4 kilometres.
Finland’s eastern border, about 1,300 kilometres in length, is also the eastern border of the European Union and NATO. Keeping watch over the border involves a combination of technology, skill, and decades of experience. Finns have always known how to operate in a forest, and there is no shortage of those on the eastern border.
On this chilly November day, visitors are welcomed to a campfire and coffee brewed above it. The organization of the event reflects the customary way of Finnish security policy, based on cooperation. The coffee was arranged by the land owner, who also organized the day’s programme together with the Border Guard.
Cooperation over the Jukajärvi range is a good example of the Finnish way of working. The area is used by the Border Guard, but at the same time, it is commercial forest owned by the state and managed with all forestry operations conventionally deemed necessary. These are the responsibility of the body which administers and manages state forests, Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.
Use of area based on joint decisions
The Border Guard and Metsähallitus have concluded a lease agreement, listing everything that the Border Guard is permitted to undertake in the range and the ways in which Metsähallitus supports this activity. As an example, forest management operations are scheduled so as not to disturb the Border Guard’s exercise schedule.
In Jukajärvi, as in other state-owned forests, most of the forest management by Metsähallitus is procured from subcontractors, which is another ingredient in the cooperation. Those coming to work in the area have been cleared by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, and this includes all employees of Metsähallitus’ subcontractors.
For its part, the Border Guard has committed to environmental directives defined by Metsähallitus. Nature may not be destroyed, though it can be used. If a few trees need to be removed for an exercise, that is allowed.
A feature of the area are kettle holes, or depressions created during the Ice Age on and near eskers. Near these, forestry operations are not allowed, but they may be used during firing practice, as long as they are not deteriorated.
’Within this area there are about 100 hectares that are protected and completely excluded from use, such as springs, streams and herb-rich forest sites. In addition, there are about one hundred hectares of ecological corridors, where nature values may not be deteriorated,’says Eeva-Liisa Jorri, Regional Director for Southern Finland at Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd.
Stray visitors not a problem
The Jukajärvi range consists of varying coniferous forests, with plenty of water bodies alternating with hills.
’This type of terrain is well suited to the needs of the Border Guard,’ says Heikki Ojala, deputy head of the Border and Coast Guard Academy, which manages the range on behalf of the Border Guard.
Those participating in exercises in Jukajärvi come from the Southeast Finland Border Guard District, but above all, from the Border and Coast Guard Academy, which is located about 50 kilometres away in Immola in the town of Imatra, right next to the border. Some of the conscripts serving in the Border Guard are trained in Immola.
The other two training facilities are in Ivalo, Upper Lapland, and Joensuu, Eastern Finland. Military service is compulsory for all adult Finnish men, and those doing their national service in the Border Guard are selected from among each year’s conscripts. Women may also apply to the Border Guard for voluntary military service.
All manner of unauthorized entry in the Jukajärvi range, including its air space, is prohibited. The area is not fenced in, but during firings the area is completely blocked off, and information about firings is provided in the vicinity and through channels.
Unexpected visitors sometimes stray into the area: some out of curiosity, others because they have lost their way.
This is no wonder, for Finnish forests are normally open to anyone on the basis of everyone’s right, and it is easy to miss the warning signs posted on the boundary. So far, such visitors have not caused much of a problem.
March to Jukajärvi is a living tradition
The Border Guard has held exercises at Jukajärvi since the early 1950s. At first, the conscripts marched there once a year from Immola, though motor vehicles are used these days. The foot march, of more than 40 kilometres carrying a full kit, is still a tradition: the 70th Jukajärvi March was tramped in 2022.
The Border Guard is active in the area almost continuously. The intensity varies, however; sometimes only a few dog patrols are present, at other times there may be hundreds of participants.
Immola is also the place where Special Border Jaegers are trained. Their training is different from that of other conscripts in that, for example, admission is by application only. The application period closes on 6 December, Finland’s Independence Day. The admission criteria focus on physical condition, health, and resistance to stress.
The Special Border Jaegers are trained for tasks needed during emergency conditions and a state of war, such as demanding intelligence duties. They receive training in the use of weapons and shooting, guerilla and engineering tasks, as well as training in communications and medical duties, plus, of course, training for border surveillance.
The Special Border Jaegers are trained for tasks needed during emergency conditions and a state of war, such as demanding intelligence duties. They receive training in the use of weapons and shooting, guerilla and engineering tasks, as well as training in communications and medical duties, plus, of course, training for border surveillance.
In addition, they learn skills useful for individual assignments and for work in small teams. Everyone also receives a leadership training, as a minimum corresponding to the NCO level. In fact, the skills taught to Special Border Jaegers correspond to those taught to special troops in the Finnish Defence Forces, even for action in built environment.
After their training, the Special Border Jaegers are placed in the Border Guard reserve.
Special Border Jaegers are prepared to shoulder heavy weights. Their backpack with all the equipment may weigh 50–60 kilos. They wear a combat vest and a heavy helmet.
When patrolling, their normal weapons include at least an assault rifle for each member, as well as anti-tank missiles, light machine guns and sniper rifles. Patrols also carry a device for target acquisition to provide support to artillery, for example.
The annual number of applicants is about 500, and ’a sufficient number’ are selected for training. The applicants have also included ’a few’ women, but only one woman has completed the training.
’Situation on border is calm, nothing to report’
The maximum width of Finland’s border zone is three kilometres. Unauthorized entry in the zone is prohibited. The latest method adopted for surveillance of the border zone are drones, which the Border Guard began to employ in 2017. The smallest of them weigh 0.2–4 kilograms and are the kind that can be bought by anyone. Some of the larger ones weighing 4–25 kilograms are conventional, while others have been customized for border surveillance.
The drones are used for surveillance and do not carry explosives.
Apart from the restricted entry, the forests in the border zone are generally typical Finnish commercial forests, for the most part owned by ordinary Finns. Permits for entering the border zone can be acquired for forest management operations or other appropriate tasks.
Permitted work, such as forest management operations, in the border zone is viewed favourably by the Border Guard. Thanks to it the border zone is also monitored by a great number of reliable citizens, who can provide plenty of information on events near the border.
’This is extremely important for the overall security of the country,’ confirms Pami Aalto, Jean Monnet Professor of International Relations at the Tampere University, in a telephone interview.
Agriculture is practically the only branch of production that can operate on global market prices all over Finland. In 2022, family forest owners sold timber to industry for a total of EUR 2.6 thousand million, and most of this money is distributed widely across rural areas, including those near the border.
Biomass is the ultimate resource of small rural communities, something you can always rely on. However, it can also provide the basis of new production, such as bioethanol, using renewable wind energy.
’Ensuring the vitality of border areas is crucial for overall security. That people can find jobs and livelihood also in Eastern Finland makes the border something that is worth defending,’ says Aalto. He also stresses the significance of forest biomass for overall security.
’Biomass is the ultimate resource of small rural communities, something you can always rely on. However, it can also provide the basis of new production, such as bioethanol, using renewable wind energy,’ Aalto says.
And so, the reassuring announcement closing our visit to Jukajärvi is: ’The situation on the border is calm, nothing to report.’
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