The brigade’s training will be conducted from the Mikkeli Sub-Staff of the NATO Ground Forces. NATO and Finland will report on the activities of Mikkeli’s subordinate staff in the coming weeks.
The Finnish coastal jaegers prepared for landing in NATO’s Nordic Response exercise in the spring and winter of 2024. A NATO ground forces brigade is currently being formed to protect Northern Finland. JANI KORPELA
A sub-staff of the NATO ground forces will be established in Mikkeli, which will begin to lead the operations and training of the NATO brigade of approximately 4,000–5,000 soldiers to be formed to protect Finland.
At least Swedish and Norwegian soldiers are joining the NATO brigade.
NATO and security policy sources tell Iltalehti that NATO and Finland will publicly report on the activities of Mikkeli’s NATO headquarters in the coming weeks, i.e. in early autumn. The decisions have already been made.
Preparations for the establishment of the staff were largely carried out last spring, when, for example, the deputy commander of NATO’s joint operations headquarters in Norfolk, British rear admiral Tim Henry visited Mikkeli.
– It was cold in Mikkeli, but it didn’t matter. I had a very rewarding day with the commander of the Finnish Army, Henry told Iltalehte in the spring in Norfolk.
IL reported at the beginning of April that NATO’s sub-staff will be established in Mikkeli, Etelä-Savoo.
Mikkeli’s NATO headquarters operates under the Norfolk headquarters on the east coast of the United States.
NATO soldiers in Finland all the time
It is significant that an armored NATO brigade is currently being formed to protect Finland, the armament of which will be stored in Finland.
The brigade has armored vehicles at its disposal.
Some of the brigade’s soldiers are in Finland all the time. It’s about the so-called FLF presence.
In order to defend Finland, the NATO countries establish a ground forces division, which is referred to as FLF (Forward Land Forces).
The Finnish Defense Forces and the state leadership have concluded that Finland needs the presence of soldiers from NATO countries on Finnish soil to strengthen preventive deterrence.
In the future, the officers of the NATO brigade, the soldiers who guard and maintain the weapons, and the soldiers responsible for the logistics of the troops will be present at all times in Finland.
The brigade consists of battalions of around 800 soldiers. At one time, for example, one NATO battalion is present in Finland.
The defense alliance NATO considers the brigade’s strong ground forces unit as a combat unit capable of striking, which has a preventive effect. In addition to the countries’ own defense forces, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are also protected by the NATO brigades of the ground forces.
Rear Admiral Tim Henry prepared the establishment of the NATO ground forces sub-staff in Mikkeli in the spring and winter of 2024. Jenni Smith
Fast readiness
If Russia starts gathering its forces for exercises near the Finnish border, NATO can quickly move the entire brigade to Finnish soil.
The accommodation facilities are ready.
According to the sources, this creates a strong preventive deterrent.
The brigade is primarily formed to strengthen the defense of Northern Finland. NATO soldiers are accommodated in, for example, Ivalo, Sodankylä and Rovaniemi. Important places for the brigade’s maintenance and logistics are the port of Kemi, the railway connection from Norway and Sweden to Tornio, and Rovaniemi airport.
– We want to send a direct message to the Russians also publicly. The union is very clear in its position: Russia poses a threat to the Euro-Atlantic region, Henry emphasized in the spring of 2024.
Mikkeli is home to the so-called high readiness NATO sub-staff, which is operationally ready for action around the clock.
In the future, NATO ground operations in the Nordic countries will be managed from Etelä Savo. During peacetime, the staff plans and implements NATO training activities in the region.
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