The Minister of Defence ( fi, puolustusministeri, sv, försvarsminister) is a member of the

Finnish Council of State sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

. As the head of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, the minister is responsible for the administration of national defence. The

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

is headquartered in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. The current Minister of Defence is

Antti Kaikkonen Antti Samuli Kaikkonen (born 14 February 1974 in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish politician of the Centre party. He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament from Uusimaa since 2003. Kaikkonen was the president of Finnish Centre Youth from 1997 ...

. From June to November 1918 the post was called Chief of the War Department, and from then until 1922 the post was called the Minister of War. The President of the Republic is the commander-in-chief of the

Finnish Defence Force The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...

s. The commander of the military forces is the

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

Ministry Offices

Finnish Ministry of Defence Offices consists of two wings: * South Makasiinikatu 8 since - Built by CL Engel as barracks for the

Finnish Guard Finliandsky Guard Regiment (russian: Финляндский лейб-гвардии полк) was a Russian Imperial Guard infantry regiment. Campaigns * 1807–1813 – Napoleonic Wars * 1828–1829 – Russo-Turkish War * 1831 – Polish camp ...

in 1922 and destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt by retaining the original walls from 1954-1956 and used as Defense Headquarters since 1956 * Fabiansgatan 2 - newer wing was built in 1961 by Finnish architects

Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...

and

Heikki Castrén Heikki is a Finnish and Estonian male given name. It derives from a medieval vernacular form of the name Henrik. Notable people with the name include: * Heikki Aho (footballer) (born 1983), Finnish footballer * Heikki A. Alikoski (1912–1997), ...

Previous Ministry Offices

* Eteläesplanadi 10 - 1918-1921 it was located here and now home to Ministry of Justice * Korkeavuorenkatu 21 (Ohrana House) - relocated in 1921 and here until beginning of World War II; now

Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the President of Finland in issue ...

Headquarters * Snellmaninkatu 4-6 - moved here 1941 to 1956 which now home to Finnish Financial Supervision Authority

List of Ministers of Defence

References

External links

The Ministry of Defence of Finland
{{Finnish Defence Forces - Military of Finland

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

Ministry Offices

Previous Ministry Offices

List of Ministers of Defence

See also

References

External links