Timo Kivinen
Former Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces
Finland’s total defence model rests on the premise that defence is a matter for the whole of society, not a task for the armed forces alone. Every ministry, municipality, company and resident has a role, defined in advance and rehearsed regularly.
What matters most for Lithuania is to adopt not the structure of the institutions but the way of thinking: preparedness has to be an everyday matter, measured and public.
Total defence works when everyone knows their role before a crisis begins.
Other experts
Edmundas Jakilaitis
On Lithuania’s total defence system – one that would make any attempt by an aggressor to test it prohibitively costly, while giving people and organisations the confidence to build their future in a secure Lithuania.
Mantas Mikuckas
On implementing a Finnish-style total defence model in Lithuania by 2030 and the socio-economic benefits it can generate.
Jonas Tamulis
On why Lithuania must build, within four years, a defence system capable of ensuring the state’s survival – and why this will require universal participation. The state must protect everyone, but everyone must also contribute.