The proposal comes from The Center Party which suggests that the canal be rebuilt so that the entire route lies on Finnish territory. The canal can then also function as a moat against Russia, reason the center politicians according to Yle.
The construction could be partially financed via the defense budget, says Jari Karhu (The Center Party) city council in Villmanstrand, to the canal.
He estimates the cost of the canal move to roughly 1.5 billion euro, equivalent to approximately 16.7 billion Swedish kronor.
The Saima Canal from 1856 connects Lake Saima with the Gulf of Finland, and is over 5.7 miles long. Half of the waterway ended up on Russian territory after World War II, and is rented by Finland today.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the previously lively traffic on the canal has decreased to almost zero.
