Finland’s emergency alert system fails during drone scare as EU standard remains delayed

Finland’s app-based emergency alert system failed to reach many residents during a drone scare in the Uusimaa region Thursday night, exposing flaws in the country’s outdated warning infrastructure, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The incident occurred when authorities issued an alert about a potentially dangerous drone, urging people to stay indoors. While the warning reached some via the 112 Finland mobile app—downloaded by roughly two million Finns—many others missed it due to uninstalled, outdated, or improperly configured apps. Some phones had automatically moved the app to sleep mode, while others lacked location permissions.

Unlike most of Europe, Finland still relies on a voluntary app rather than the EU-Alert system, which pushes cell broadcast messages directly to all phones in a designated area—without requiring an app, internet, or even an active SIM card. Countries like Spain, Germany, France, and Denmark already use the system, which delivers alerts with a distinct siren-like tone. Estonia and Sweden are adopting it this year, while Finland’s rollout has faced repeated delays.

### Years of delays despite funding Finland secured €6 million for emergency alert upgrades in May 2023, but the project stalled until last month, when the Interior Ministry finally confirmed plans to implement EU-Alert. Telecom operators, represented by industry group Ficom, say they are ready to begin work immediately once ordered.

“Funding was allocated last year and extended for 2024. We’re just waiting to move forward,” said Ficom CEO Elina Ussa, estimating the build-out could take months—potentially completing by early 2025. The ministry’s timeline targets late 2025.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo emphasized urgency in adopting the new system, calling the current app-based approach unreliable. Taito Vainio, director-general of Finland’s Emergency Response Centre Agency, noted the EU-Alert system would cost about €5 million to deploy and €1 million annually to maintain—a small price for a far more robust solution.

### A system stuck in the past Finland’s reliance on the 112 Finland app—a holdover from 2017—contrasts sharply with the cell broadcast standard, which has been operational in parts of Europe for nearly a decade. The technology gained traction after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when inadequate warning systems proved deadly. While Finland debated upgrades for years, neighboring Sweden and Estonia transitioned swiftly to EU-Alert, leaving Finland’s preparedness—often cited as a global model—in question.