Finland hails plan for allies to join NATO land forces on its soil
HELSINKI (Reuters) -Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen hailed plans on Wednesday for six NATO member states including Britain and France to participate in land forces that are to be established in northern Finland.
Finland, which has a longer border with Russia than any other NATO state, has strengthenedthe frontier in the two years since it joined the military alliance following a policy U-turn after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"I am very pleased that yesterday, in connection with the ministerial meeting, we were able to announce that Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are set to join FLF Finland," Hakkanen said on X, referring to what NATO calls Forward Land Forces.
NATO leaders were meeting on Wednesday in The Hague.
Helsinki and Stockholm agreed last year that Sweden would lead the establishment of a NATO land force in Finland and invited other allies to participate.
The number of troops is yet to be defined. But the Finnish defence ministry has said that there is a plan for up to a brigade - about 5,000 soldiers - and a significant number of equipment to be brought in if the security situation worsens.
The first NATO land forces will start to arrive this year and be placed above the Arctic circle in Rovaniemi and Sodankyla, it said.
In addition to the foreign reinforcement force in the north, Finland will host a new NATO land force headquarters for officers in Mikkeli, southern Finland, an about two-hourdrive from the Finnish-Russian border.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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