NATO | This is how researchers evaluate the placement of NATO’s headquarters and ground forces in Finland

Finland a significant NATO decision has been made, said the Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (cook) at the end of the afternoon on Friday.

Throughout the spring, Finland has been trying to get NATO’s presence on its land, and now both NATO’s sub-staff and the presence of ground forces are coming to Finland.

“[Päätöstä] could wait. We have a security policy leader, such as Häkkänen, who has pointed out that things are progressing,” commented a senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute. Matt Pesu.

Foreign policy according to the institute’s researchers, the schedule can be so fast that the preliminary work of the subordinate staff could start as early as next year.

“It usually takes years for these to be fully operational. I’m betting that it’s possible that the staff will start operating to some extent already next year,” says a senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Affairs Iro Sarkkä.

Pesu agrees that a preliminary start of operations is possible, although it will take time to find officers and facilities.

One possible scenario is that the headquarters would come to Mikkeli.

According to Särkä, “the support structures are already in place” in Mikkeli, which may speed up the start of operations.

Permanent ones Therefore, according to Pesu, troops will not come to Finland under these conditions.

“It seems that it would be a model tailored for Finland, and NATO’s presence would be specifically related to training. For example, so that there are troops in another country that can be sent here if necessary.”

For example, the Baltic countries have a certain number of troops permanently, and in addition there is also a readiness to increase the number of troops.

In Pesu’s opinion, an interesting question for Finland is from which countries the troops earmarked for Finland come from. According to him, the best options would be troops from the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom and the United States.

I would see decision in everyday life? Not exactly, say the researchers.

“Probably, the decision would be seen mostly in the headquarters area, but of course this depends on the size of the headquarters. The decision has social and economic effects, but maybe civilians wouldn’t notice it that much,” Särkkä thinks.

“It cannot be compared to Germany, where the bases are their own small towns. That’s not what we’re going for,” says Pesu.

In addition, Finland is already being trained from elsewhere, so the change from the current situation would not necessarily be very visible to civilians.

Decision The subordinate staff and ground forces to be stationed in Finland may still be mentioned at the NATO summit in Washington. However, the matter has already been practically decided between the defense ministers, says Pesu.

Later, it will become clear from which country the troops will come, how many there will be, and what the readiness of the troops will be. However, according to the researchers, it seems that Finland achieved all of its goals, at least in the big picture.