The new land administration in Finland will create the NATO near the Russian border next year.
This command will have the mission of leading the operations of the Alliance’s land forces in northern Europe in the event of a military conflict, the Finnish Defense Minister said today.
Finland joined the NATO alliance last yearin response to neighboring Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022 and orchestrated the Alliance’s presence on its soil.
“This morning I decided that we will propose to NATO the creation of the command together with the army headquarters in Mikkeli,” said Minister Andi Hakanen, following his announcement in June that all NATO member states had given the policy your consent to the plan.
The Multi Corps land component command center
The center, which NATO calls Multi Corps Land Component Command, will operate under the alliance’s US-based Norfolk Joint Force Command and in conjunction with Finland’s own land forces command, which is already located in Mikkeli. , about a two-hour drive from central Finland. Russian border.
Hakanen, speaking at a press conference, said the unit would initially have an annual budget of 8.5 million euros and would be staffed by a few dozen international employees.
Earlier this month, Finland and neighboring Sweden, which also joined the alliance this year, said Sweden would coordinate visits by foreign NATO troops and international high schools to northern Finland.
However, Helsinki does not provide for the same type of permanent multinational force that has been deployed, for example, in the neighboring Baltic states, given the significant size of Finland’s armed forces.
Speaking at the same press conference today, Finnish Army Commander Passi Valimäki said that the geographic scope of the new unit would be decided at a later date, but it would initially oversee the planning of ground force operations in the Nordic region.
Sources: AMPE, AFP, Reuters