The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

THE INTERFACE OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL SECURITY 275the Nordic countries there has historically been a strict division between themilitary’s defence of the state border and national security and the maintenanceof order by the police. In the aftermath of September 2001, however, the Nordicgovernments have begun to re-examine their legal frameworks with regard tothe use of military assistance to combat terrorist attacks on their territory.FinlandFinland’s 1980 Act on the provision of assistance by the defence forces to thepolice allows military assistance to be given only in cases where the resourcesof the police are inadequate. After a request from the police, the defence forcesare allowed to assist in the search for and arrest of persons, the isolation oflocations, the control of traffic, the protection of personnel or property, and soon. 44 The decision on whether to provide military support is taken by the concernedmilitary authority. After September 2001, a commission established toconsider the act proposed amendments in areas related to the combating ofterrorism. The rationale for such assistance is that terrorist acts may demand theuse of military force and that the demand for additional police capabilities is sorare that it is not economically justifiable to allocate new resources to thepolice. Under the proposal, the police can ask the Ministry of the Interior torequest assistance from the Ministry of Defence. The two ministers togetherdecide whether this type of assistance ought to be provided. The naval and airforce units of the defence forces can be put at the disposal of the police if thenature of the terrorist threat calls for these resources. 45 The 2004 amendment tothe 1980 act also specifies the conditions for military assistance. The policemay receive assistance from the armed forces in order to prevent or avert certaincriminal acts as specified in the Finnish Criminal Code. In emergencysituations when there is a ‘serious’ and ‘direct’ threat to ‘particularly important’functions of society, the police force’s request for assistance can be madedirectly to the top military command. The government is to be informed of sucharmed vehicles, etc.) and lines of command for tasks that straddle the border between internal order andsecurity and external security. E.g., the Italian Arma dei Carabinieri is responsible for certain militaryoperations as well as for ‘internal’ civilian tasks, such as maintaining order. In some countries the forcesare under the control of the defence ministry, in others, of the interior ministry. In some states (e.g., Italy)the authority, chain of command and rules of engagement change depending on the particular task. SeeBenyon, J. et al., Police Forces in the European Union (University of Leicester, Centre for the Study ofPublic Order: Leicester, 1994); and Stålvant, C.-E., ‘Questioning the roles of the military and police incoping with functional security: some assertions about national variations and their impacts’, Paper presentedat the Second Pan-European Conference on EU Politics of the ECPR Standing Group on EuropeanUnion Politics (note 37).44 Republic of Finland, Laki Puolustusvoimien virka-avusta poliisille [Act on the provision of assistanceby the defence forces to the police], Act no. 781/1980, 5 Dec. 1980. The text of the act, as amended,is available at URL .45 Finnish Prime Minister’s Office, Finnish Security and Defence Policy 2004, Government Reportno. 6/2004 (Prime Minister’s Office: Helsinki, 2004), URL , pp. 127–28.