Defence minister warns of emerging security risks in property purchases
Finland’s Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has urged lawmakers to tighten legislation that still allows Russian citizens to acquire apartments by purchasing shares in housing companies, despite an existing ban on buying real estate for security reasons. His call, reported in Finnish media coverage examining the loophole and its implications, highlighted concerns described in analysis of Finland’s property restrictions outlined in this review of housing-company share purchases.
Häkkänen said that while individual apartments pose a lower strategic risk than large properties, the loophole still requires scrutiny. He noted that if a hostile actor amassed significant ownership in a single housing company — particularly in remote regions — the situation could “suddenly create a security threat.” The minister confirmed that additional legislative limits will be introduced to prevent such scenarios.
Growing concern over opaque Russian property activity
There are no official statistics on how many apartments in Finland are owned by Russian citizens. Tens of thousands of residents of Russian origin legally live in the country, many of whom have purchased homes for personal use. Häkkänen acknowledged that monitoring property-related operations involving Russian buyers will be difficult and resource-intensive.
Investigations by Yle’s MOT programme found that up to thousands of apartments in Finland are currently advertised on Russian websites, with buyers continuing to acquire property, including in Helsinki. Some purchasers reportedly have minimal or no declared income, yet own multiple homes, raising questions about the origins of the funds and potential links to malign networks.
At the end of October, the Ministry of Defence blocked 11 real estate transactions involving citizens of third countries, including Russians. The properties ranged from residential and holiday homes to commercial premises, some located near key maritime routes such as the Naantali strait, the shipping corridor from Turku to the Baltic Sea and along the strategic Vt5 highway.
Hybrid threats turn routine property deals into security concerns
Analysts warn that Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine has redefined European security, extending far beyond the battlefield into political, economic and informational domains. Moscow seeks to undermine Western unity through a wide range of tools — including influence operations, covert networks and economic pressure — leading Finnish authorities to view foreign property acquisitions through a national-security lens.
Hybrid warfare involves more than drones, cyberattacks or sabotage. Economic instruments such as property purchases can be used to establish covert footholds, build influence networks or facilitate intelligence-gathering. Even if individual apartments cannot serve as major strategic assets, clusters of units controlled by interconnected actors may affect decision-making inside housing companies or provide indirect leverage over local infrastructure.
Finland lacks comprehensive data on the scale of Russian property ownership, complicating risk assessments. Authorities therefore operate with limited visibility, increasing the need for preventive measures and additional resources for monitoring.
Helsinki prepares a preventive strategy against long-term risks
Häkkänen argues that Finland must act pre-emptively to prevent the accumulation of risks rather than respond after vulnerabilities emerge. Blocking property acquisitions near maritime routes, transport corridors or other strategic areas demonstrates Helsinki’s willingness to treat real estate as a potential security asset — comparable, in some cases, to military infrastructure.
To counter multi-dimensional hybrid threats, Finland is moving toward an integrated strategy that combines legislative reforms, financial oversight and enhanced monitoring of foreign-linked transactions. Such an approach aims to strengthen national resilience and ensure that routine market operations cannot be exploited by hostile actors.
