Puheet
Puolustusministeri Antti Häkkäsen puhe Shangri-La Dialogue -konferenssissa
Cyber, Undersea And Outer-Space Defence Challenges.
It is a great honour and my pleasure to participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue. I want to thank IISS for organising this excellent event, Singapore for the hospitality, and all the distinguished guests, speakers, and panellists for the fruitful discussions so far.
Although this fourth plenary session is about cyber, undersea and outer-space defence challenges, the current security situation in Europe needs to be addressed due to implications to global peace and security and therefore to the Indo-Pacific region, too.
Russia has once again made an active decision to continue its illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. It has not shown any readiness for a solution which would respect Ukraine’s sovereignty during these past weeks. On the contrary, Russia is continuing and even speeding up its warfare.
Finland continues supporting Ukraine. It is crucial that the war will not end in a way that rewards Russia as the aggressor. Following the international rules-based order, complying with international law and respecting the sovereignty of other nations are core values to be upheld if we want to achieve global security, stability and prosperity.
Russia has shown that it does not follow international law and the Charter of the United Nations. It is for that reason Finland has had to resort to reinforcing its deterrence and defence by not just increasing defence spending but also by joining NATO two years ago.
This is due to our assessment that Russia will highly likely continue strengthening and developing the armed forces also after its war of aggression against Ukraine has ended.
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has underscored the growing interconnection between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific theatres. China has enabled Russia’s war effort, while North Korea has supplied Moscow with significant quantities of weapons and troops.
The linkages go beyond having the same actors in both regions. Coming from the North I want to mention how the Arctic region links the Europe and Indo-Pacific together as the economic and military interests are rising and drawing actors from the west and east.
Finally, both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions are experiencing intensifying hybrid operations, including the sabotage of undersea critical infrastructure—activities that have occurred several times in Finland’s proximity but also in this region.
Circling back to the topic of this session, the defence challenges in all three dimensions – cyber, undersea and outer-space – are also examples cross-regional interconnection. They are as relevant in the North as they are here in the South.
Cyber as an evolving operating environment is challenging the international rules-based system. Threats have become increasingly diverse, with the cyber environment being used extensively in hybrid influencing efforts, crime, terrorism and warfare. The role of politically motivated or state-led non-state actors as orchestrators of hostile activities is growing.
Breakthroughs in technology and the digitalisation of societies increase the number of information systems and services connected to the internet, thereby making society increasingly vulnerable and susceptible to cyber incidents.
Cyber security is clearly a whole-of-nation effort. We have to combine the resources and skills of government authorities and the military, industry and business sector as well as the research community. Finland’s model of comprehensive security is a good basis for this.
Undersea dimension faces unique and complex challenges due to the difficult operating environment. For example, underwater drones are designed to be silent and difficult to detect. The increasing digitalisation of vessels and other equipment exposes them to cyber threats and spoofing attacks.
Undersea cables form the backbone of global communications making them a shared strategic vulnerability. Dealing with recent incidents of damaged underwater cables in our waters, we have increased our preparedness and understanding of how to respond. Let me share a couple of key issues.
Firstly, situational awareness, readiness and speed of response are vital. Secondly, smooth cooperation is key to success – cooperation among carious national authorities, cooperation with cable operators and cooperation with neighbouring countries. Also international organizations like NATO and EU have been useful in dealing with the complex task of safeguarding our underwater infrastructure.
Space is a fast-changing environment. It is becoming more contested and an arena for competition. Space has become a strategic domain and potential arena to trigger escalation in the future.
Our modern societies are highly dependent on services from space and its importance for modern warfare is also increasing. Today, nearly all weapon systems are somehow connected to satellites. This is a critical infrastructure we must be able to defend. We need to secure our access to space.
On one hand, space is crucial for nation states, and on the other, it is common for us all. We are all maneuvering in the same arena. This means better possibilities to cooperate, collaborate and to benefit from each other strengths.
As a small nation Finland engages in cooperation with the Indo-Pacific partners through the EU and NATO, and bilaterally with our regional partners.
To sum up, the threats and defence challenges we are facing in the three dimensions are complex and do not respect state borders. Their significance to the global peace and security is on the rise, which is why we need to continue open discussion and enhance our collaboration. I look forward to your questions and insights.
Thank you.