The defense cooperation agreement between Finland and the United States may be ready for the state leadership to decide possibly as early as next week.
The negotiations between Finland and the United States on defense cooperation are almost complete, ‘s sources say.
Finland has been negotiating with the United States for over a year.
With the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), Finland and the United States agree on how US troops can operate in Finland. It deepens and specifies the cooperation agreed in the NATO agreements.
The United States has similar agreements with more than 20 countries, and the most recent one is being finalized with Sweden these days.
Finland hopes that close cooperation with the United States will improve Finland’s security. The conclusion of the contract was tentatively agreed upon years ago. The actual negotiations started last year after Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine.
Airports, ports and military areas would be opened to the United States
According to ‘s information, Finland would allow US forces to use several Finnish garrisons or military bases. They would include land, sea and air force areas.
The objects that will be used jointly are listed in the annex to the agreement, and in them the negotiators have listened to the wishes of the defense forces. The negotiated agreement is secret for the time being, and does not know which airports, ports or garrisons Finland would also open to US soldiers.
In addition, Finland and the United States agree on destinations that are only used by the United States. In these, for example, the United States could store material for the needs of its forces training here. Here, for example, there could be troops’ weapons, vehicles and other equipment.
Finland’s neighbor Norway allows the United States to use three airports and one military port. According to ‘s information, in Sweden’s almost completed contract, the amount would be higher than in Norway.
Sources: there will be no permanent base
The agreement will enable the training of American forces in Finland in the future. For more than a year, US troops have been training in Finland almost continuously.
The agreement does not set limits on how many troops or exercises there would be here, but the matter could be negotiated whenever Finland so desired.
However, there is no US base coming to Finland with permanent US soldiers.
The agreement was negotiated by the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. According to ‘s information, the last negotiations will take place on these days. If the parties are satisfied, the matter would be decided by the state leadership in Finland as early as next week.
After that, the Government Council deals with the matter, after which the Parliament’s task is to deal with and approve the agreement. The Constitutional Committee decides whether half of the votes are enough for approval or whether a qualified majority, i.e. two-thirds of the representatives, is needed behind the agreement.