Defense Forces Finland and Sweden have a joint preparedness exercise in the Baltic Sea

Policy|Defense Forces

Finland participates in a maritime co-operation exercise organized by Sweden today, 2 March, in the maritime area west of Gotland, informed on wednesday.

According to the Finnish Defense Forces, parts of the General Staff and the Defense Forces, the battleship and the Air Force aircraft will participate in the exercise from Finland.

Also Swedish media Dagens Nygeter and Sveriges Radio say that Finland and Sweden are currently conducting a joint preparedness exercise involving fighter jets and warships in the Baltic Sea.

The main venue for the exercise is Gotland in Sweden.

“This is a Swedish-Finnish readiness exercise. The exercise creates the conditions for facing a crisis or an armed attack, ”said the Swedish Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist said to DN.

Minister of Defense of Finland Antti Kaikkonen (Central) has been watching the exercises at noon on Wednesday in Visby, DN said. The Ministry of Defense says on Twitter on Wednesday that defense ministers will meet in Visby to discuss the security situation and co-operation between the two countries.

For exercises Among other things, two Finnish two F / A-18 Hornet multipurpose fighters and two Swedish Gripen fighters are participating.

The mine ship Uusimaa is participating in the exercise of the Finnish Navy.

The exercise is planned for the last few days, Swedish media say. Its purpose is to strengthen the security policy space.

The co-operation exercise is part of the normal exercise activities of the Finnish and Swedish Armed Forces, the Defense Forces states in a press release.

According to the Defense Forces, the aim of the exercise is to test and develop a common picture of the situation in Finland and Sweden and the interoperability of the navy and air forces.

According to Swedish media, the exercise signals that Finland and Sweden are prepared to carry out this type of activity together.