Former Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin’s call to shoot down Russian fighter jets that violate European airspace has prompted questions and mixed reactions in Finland, including within her own Social Democratic Party.
Marin made the comments in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, published on 11 October.
Asked what preventive measures Europe should take against Russia, Marin called for the rapid modernisation of European armed forces, including greater use of drones and unmanned systems.
She then argued that Russian fighter aircraft entering European airspace should be shot down and that Russian drone and cyber operations should also face a response.
“If we appear accommodating, things will get worse,” Marin told the newspaper.
Marin also warned that Russia could widen its aggression beyond Ukraine, arguing that European countries should not assume they are safe simply because they are geographically distant from Russia.
She later clarified that she was referring to the airspace of EU and NATO countries rather than Finland alone. Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has since stressed that Finland already has established procedures for dealing with airspace violations and that the level of force used depends on the threat assessment.
SDP figures question automatic shoot-downs
Ilta-Sanomat reports that Marin’s comments have caused mixed reactions within the SDP.
One unnamed SDP MP described the fighter jet comment as poorly formulated and said shooting down a Russian military aircraft in peacetime would be an exceptionally serious step carrying a major risk of escalation.
Another Social Democratic source described Marin’s position as provocative and overly simplistic, pointing out that Finland and NATO already have common procedures for responding to violations of their airspace.
SDP chair Antti Lindtman also emphasised the existing rules rather than Marin’s proposal.
According to Lindtman, an intruding military aircraft is first identified and contacted and ordered to leave. Warning shots can follow if those instructions are ignored.
“The use of force is the very last resort,” Lindtman told Ilta-Sanomat.
He said responses must always be proportionate to the assessed threat and that any changes to current procedures should be carefully prepared together with Finland’s allies.
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee chair Johannes Koskinen, also of the SDP, similarly said he saw no current need to change Finland’s procedures. He did not, however, believe that Marin necessarily intended to demand a complete overhaul of the existing system.
Some defend Marin’s message
Other Social Democrats interpreted Marin’s remarks more sympathetically.
Defence Committee member Jani Kokko suggested that the former prime minister may deliberately have used unusually strong language to draw the attention of countries in southern Europe to the security threat posed by Russia.
Kokko said Finland had maintained its military preparedness after the Cold War while many other European countries reduced defence spending.
He acknowledged that automatically shooting down Russian aircraft could be considered a hawkish position, but argued that Europe had also seen the consequences of responding too cautiously to Russian aggression.
SDP deputy chair Nasima Razmyar similarly suggested that Marin was primarily trying to send a message to southern and central European countries that NATO members need to establish credible limits on Russian behaviour.
She also cautioned against interpreting Marin’s remarks too literally.
Marin served as Finland’s prime minister from December 2019 until 2023. Her government led Finland through the Covid-19 pandemic and the country’s decision to apply for NATO membership following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
She left Parliament in 2023 and currently works as a strategic adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.