Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen visited Ukraine on 11–12 March and met with Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. During her visit, Minister Rantanen also learnt about the various activities of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ branch of government, such as the situation centre and the operations of rescuers and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
At their meeting, the interior ministers discussed, among other things, the current security situation in Ukraine, civil preparedness, rescue services, and border security and police cooperation. Minister Rantanen also visited the border between Ukraine and Belarus to learn more about the operations of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service and other authorities. In addition, she learnt about Ukraine’s experiences of how different authorities use drones in their operations.
“Ukrainian authorities are hampered by destroyed infrastructure and have to operate in extremely difficult conditions. It is therefore important to listen carefully to what Ukraine hopes from our cooperation and assistance. At the same time, we have an opportunity to learn from Ukraine’s experiences,” says Minister of the Interior Rantanen.
Finland can make use of the lessons Ukraine has learnt in areas such as measures to ensure the preparedness of critical infrastructure, protect the civilian population and improve the readiness of rescue services.
Finland and Ukraine will continue and reinforce their cooperation on civil defence shelters. Ukraine has learnt a hard lesson on the necessity of civil defence shelters during the over three years of Russia’s invasion. Finland has a great deal of experience of civil defence shelters, which is of interest to Ukraine.
Finland continues to provide material assistance
Civilian material assistance also plays a key role in maintaining the resilience of the Ukrainian society and the operational capacity of Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine’s need for material assistance continues to be great and diverse.
“Finland will continue to support Ukraine for as long as is necessary. We will continue to provide Ukraine with material assistance that helps keep society running,” says Minister Rantanen.
The Ministry of the Interior channels donations from all sectors of society to Ukraine through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Finland has so far delivered 409 truckloads of civilian material assistance and 108 vehicles to Ukraine. The largest recipients of Finland’s assistance are the rescue services and civil defence, energy and healthcare sectors.
Ministry of the Interior supports civilian crisis management missions in Ukraine
During her visit, Minister Rantanen also met with Finnish civilian crisis management experts who work in the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine) and in the International Criminal Court.
Supporting Ukraine through civilian crisis management efforts is one of the priorities of the Finnish Government Programme. The Ministry of the Interior is strongly committed to supporting missions in Ukraine by seconding Finnish experts to these missions.
Inquiries: Communications Unit, Ministry of the Interior, media.sm@gov.fi (requests for interviews with Minister of the Interior Rantanen)
