Niinistö was in Estonia last week on an official visit which included presenting his report on Europe's security preparedness, commissioned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The relevance of the report, started in response to Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, has been questioned in some quarters due to ongoing events, especially Donald Trump for his second term as U.S. president.

Niinistö himself does not agree with this assessment. He said he spoke with many U.S. Republicans while compiling the report, gaining a fairly clear idea ahead of the fact of what might happen if Trump were to be re-elected as U.S. president. The former president (2012-2024) said he largely incorporated this perspective into the report.

"First of all, in terms of civil defense and of security, nothing has changed. People will still need water, food, and energy if a crisis breaks out," Niinistö told Monday's "Välisilm." 

"If the U.S. reduces its role in Europe, European countries must be able to fill all the gaps. This is not a takeover of NATO, but a more European NATO. I believe that this is how we can move forward from here. I am not afraid that the U.S. will abandon NATO, but due to the development of events in the Pacific, it may indeed happen that they reduce their role in Europe," the president said.

Niinistö believes Europe has finally woken up — at least at the political elite level.

However, he also hoped that European citizens grasp the seriousness of the situation. As long as only politicians and state leaders understand the importance of improving Europe's defense capability, its effectiveness will be limited, the official said.

Europe must not only be militarily strong but also have this strength recognized internationally, so that the rest of the world takes the continent seriously, Niinistö said. In this way, wars in this region can be prevented, while the peaceful life seen in much of Europe for 80 years now can continue.

"This, of course, will mean armaments procurement. It means more participation in national defense than at present. In Finland, we have mandatory military service; this would be an excellent starting point," he went on.

"I was pleased to see that in Germany, at least, discussions on reinstating mandatory military service have begun. Any form of participation — be it voluntary or compulsory, be it in the armed forces or in maintaining society, in hospitals, in logistics — is, in my view, vital."

The mindset must take root that security is a common good, Niinistö noted, and so is also a common obligation, and not just a concern for soldiers or politicians.

Niinistö said that the fear that national defense will take away from funding earmarked for other sectors, such as social welfare or healthcare, is largely unfounded.

"We talk a lot about 2 percent. What do we get for it, what have we received for it? Unfortunately, not very much," he said, referring to the percentage of GDP per year which is seen as NATO's baseline and yet which not all member states meet even today.

A significant portion of Niinistö's report also covered climate security and preventing damage caused by natural disasters.

"We have started speculating a lot about what harm Russia might do if given the opportunity, but with climate change, we know there is no need to speculate. Damage will come if we do nothing," the former president said.

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