In Norway, 2025 has been declared the year of “total defense”, and in this model not only the military but also government institutions, businesses, and the population are supposed to defend the country, The Moscow Times reports. The Heimevernet National Guard has more than 40,000 people — almost twice as many as the regular army, which has 23,000 service members.
Among the reservists are lawyers, electricians, bankers, insurance agents, and farmers. Many of them leave work once a year and go to military training; in September, the largest National Guard exercises of the year took place in the capital, Oslo, Norway, with about 5,000 armed reservists taking part.
Norway has an almost 200-kilometer border with Russia, and the country’s former prime minister Erna Solberg said in an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ): “We are standing in the Russians’ way”.
In Finland, 45,000 reservists now receive training every year. They practice urban combat, the use of drones, and providing medical aid on the battlefield, while civilians are offered voluntary courses in weapons handling and first aid.
On September 2–3, more than 2,000 people took part in civil defense exercises in the city of Kuopio, Finland, where responses to cyberattacks, power outages, and the threat of missile strikes were practiced. In Poland, several civilian military training programs are in operation, including “In Readiness” and “Train with the Army”.
Under the “In Readiness” program, classes on the basics of military affairs and evacuation are held on weekends, and in the first weeks after the program launched in 2025, about 18,000 people signed up for the courses. In the second program, classes are led by service members; volunteers are taught how to handle weapons, throw training grenades, and other skills, and in some cities waiting lists had to be created because of demand.
The basics of military affairs are also taught in Polish schools. Teenagers are taught first aid, survival in extreme conditions, and actions in the event of an armed conflict, and firearms training is provided from age 14.
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