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Finland to open 15 areas to the US Army
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[Regnum] To accommodate American troops 15 military areas will be opened on the territory of Finland, the Minister of Defense of the Republic Antti Häkkänen told reporters on December 14. He explained that such an opportunity is opened by the defense cooperation agreement that the Finnish government decided to conclude with the United States. Häkkänen added that the republic will be able to sign an agreement with the United States only after receiving approval from the Finnish parliament. Earlier on December 14, the press service of the Finnish government announced that on December 18 the republic would conclude a written agreement on defense cooperation with the United States. The government said Helsinki and Washington had already negotiated a new bilateral agreement, noting that it would strengthen Finland's security and help fulfill its NATO membership obligations. The agreement spelled out issues such as the deployment of troops and the deployment of equipment. Going forward, the agreement will allow the US to use congressional funding for infrastructure investments in Finland. The Finnish government also reported that they want to propose to President Sauli Niinistö to authorize Häkkänen to sign the agreement of the Minister of Defense. If there are any obstacles to this, then the Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen should sign the agreement. The Finnish government also reported that a number of NATO countries, including Norway and the Baltic states, have such bilateral agreements with the United States. As for Sweden and Denmark, they are in the process of negotiations on this topic. The Finnish government stated that this agreement is important for Helsinki, including in the context of the situation in Ukraine. It added that Finland's membership in NATO would not diminish the importance of cooperation with Washington, but would open up new opportunities and contribute to Helsinki's contribution to NATO's collective defense. As reported by IA Regnum, on April 4, 2023, Finland joined NATO becoming the 31st member of the alliance. In early September, the Iltalehti newspaper published material with Niinistö's statement about plans to allow American military aircraft into Finland. The American Air Force will have access to Rovaniemi Airport. Political scientist Johan Backman On December 5, they said that Finland, under the pretext of a “border crisis,” wants to place American troops. He said that it was NATO that demanded that Finlandclose the checkpoint on the border with Russia. Posted by: badanov 2023-12-15 |
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