Were Finns pulled over? Troops are coming to us that weren’t supposed to come – 2024-09-16 16:48:05

When Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022, it was understood that there would be no permanent NATO bases or NATO troops in Finland.

At that time, it was emphasized that Finland, as a member of NATO, manages its defense independently.

At that time, the citizens who supported Finland’s NATO membership did not want NATO troops and bases either.

When applying for membership, the line of the foreign policy leadership was that NATO would be joined without restrictions and marginal conditions, and possible base and NATO force matters would be examined later.

However, already in 2022, the coalition wanted to have NATO headquarters functions and bases in Finland. According to Petteri Orpo, who led the opposition party at the time, NATO bases located in Finland would be “absolutely logical”.

In August 2022, Finland decided to start negotiations with NATO’s most influential country, the United States, on a bilateral defense cooperation agreement (DCA).

In April 2023, Finland finally became a member of NATO. At the same time, Finland got fully involved in NATO’s operational planning.

In June 2023, the government led by coalition Prime Minister Orpo came to power. Antti Häkkänen of the coalition started as Minister of Defense and Elina Valtonen of the same party as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During the summer and autumn of 2023, Finland’s line in relation to the NATO forces coming here began to change.

An explanation has been sought, among other things, for the coalition’s growing influence, but also for the fact that Finland, as a member of NATO, became a full-fledged part of the alliance’s defense planning. As a result, Finland had to take into account the needs and development wishes of NATO’s collective defense. Of course, Finland also got to tell NATO its own wishes.

At that time, the understanding also began to increase that Finland’s security environment was becoming more dangerous due to Russia’s actions and that the period of danger would continue for a long time.

During the fall of 2023, Finland began to actively seek the presence of NATO’s Northern European Ground Force Headquarters and NATO’s FLF forces, i.e. the presence of forward ground forces and their headquarters.

At the turn of the year 2023–2024, the presidential election battle intensified. In the comparison of the presidential candidates, it became clear that the coalition’s presidential candidate Alexander Stubb’s line on the arrival of NATO troops in Finland was the most positive compared to the other candidates.

Stubb, who was elected president of the republic in February 2024, began to manage Finland’s foreign and security policy together with the government.

In the same month, Defense Minister Häkkänen told the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting that Finland had told NATO of its desire to host the sub-staff of the ground forces and that it hoped that NATO’s advanced troops and their staff would go to Finland.

Finland’s hopes began to get a green light from NATO. In July 2024, at the NATO summit in Washington, it was sealed that NATO troops and NATO headquarters would be sent to Finland.

President Stubb was pleased to tell in Washington how Finland had a strong influence on the fact that NATO was developing its presence in Finland in the summit statement. In addition, a note was added to the statement, according to which NATO and Finland are jointly responding to Russia’s growing and long-lasting threat.

The FLF model, tailored for Finland, based on the rotating training of troops, will be finally approved in January 2025 at the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting.

According to information from Iltalehti, FLF troops come to Finland from the United States, Great Britain and the Nordic countries. The troops are training for northern warfare in Finland, and when the actual situation comes, they can be quickly called to Finland’s aid. The size of the forces will range from a few hundred to several thousand NATO soldiers.

Even though public spending is being cut and adjusted to a record pace of 9 billion euros during the current government term, Orpo’s government still wanted to ensure that NATO spending is not cut, but increased.

According to information from Iltalehti, the prime minister wanted to personally ensure that the additional money of 67 million euros is approved for the construction of the infrastructure needed by the future NATO troops and staffs during the autumn budget rush.

In the opposition, especially the Left Alliance has expressed its disappointment at what kind of NATO country Finland has now quietly become.

The chairperson of the parliamentary group of the Left Alliance, MP Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, announced on Tuesday that the party is worried about whether the coalition’s foreign policy outspokenness will reduce the democratic and parliamentary debate about Finland’s NATO line.

– I would like to ask Finland’s foreign policy leadership whether you are ready to involve the parliament in the creation of Finland’s NATO line, or if you think it is only an internal matter of the coalition, Pekonen asked in the parliament.

Antti Kaikkonen, the defense minister of the previous government and chairman of the center, tells Iltalehte that he does not subscribe to the left-wing coalition’s criticism that the coalition would decide on Finland’s NATO line alone.

– I believe that there is a fairly broad acceptance of strengthening NATO’s presence in Finland.

– At least the center has a positive attitude towards this in principle, says Kaikkonen.

The government has also been criticized by the opposition for the fact that it is difficult for MPs to get information about NATO-related matters.

According to the Left Alliance, for example, one has only had to read about the future presence of NATO ground forces in the media.

The government’s information flow to the parliament has also been criticized by Pekka Haavisto (Green), who was the foreign minister of the previous government.

– It would be good to hear about the issues in the parliamentary committees before reading about them in the newspapers. The government has not always succeeded in this, Haavisto said in parliament.

Kaikkonen also agrees with the criticism of the government’s information flow.

– In my opinion, the government should pay attention to this, that the MPs responsible for the matter, above all in the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Defense Committee, are up to date. There might be some room for improvement here, says Kaikkonen.

The fact that Finland will participate in NATO’s nuclear weapons exercises for the first time in October has also attracted criticism in the Left Alliance, but the government has not wanted to seek a common view on the matter across party lines.

Minja Koskela, candidate for president of the Left Alliance, does not support Finland’s participation in “nuclear war exercises”. He would have liked a value discussion in the parliament about Finland’s participation in the nuclear weapons exercise.

Finland’s nuclear weapons policy was slightly opened up in 2023, when the then president of the republic, Sauli Niinistö, said that Finland would take part in the work of NATO’s Nuclear Deterrence Planning Group (NPG) and could also participate in NATO’s nuclear weapons exercises.

However, the current leadership of Finland’s security policy does not want to comment on the participation in the October nuclear weapons exercises, instead the communication is left to NATO.

In an interview with Iltalehti in September, Defense Minister Häkkänen justified Finland’s silent nuclear weapons policy by saying that 90 percent of matters related to strengthening NATO’s nuclear deterrence are secret.

Iltalehti asked ex-defense minister Kaikkose, sitting in the opposition, if the foundations of NATO-Finland’s nuclear weapons policy could be shed more light on than at present?

-Questions related to NATO’s nuclear weapons policy are NATO’s hard core. It is justified that it is highly classified information, says Kaikkonen.

According to him, the responsible administration of defense and foreign affairs evaluates how much can be told about nuclear weapons policy.

– I understand that the line must be quite restrained, says Kaikkonen.

Were Finns misled when, when applying for membership in the spring of 2022, it was emphasized that there would be no NATO troops or NATO bases in Finland?

– I don’t think so. When applying for NATO membership, it was stated that such questions would be returned to later if necessary, says Kaikkonen.

– Now there is a discussion about whether there will be roving troops from NATO in Finland. As far as I understand, there is no such option on the table that there would be any larger permanent corps department. Of course, it’s not out of the question, but these things will be evaluated over time, says Kaikkonen.

However, some feel that people have been misled in relation to the original NATO promise, when it was emphasized at the time that Finland would take care of its own defense without NATO troops and alliance bases coming here.

-Finland’s strong own defense is the starting point even at the moment. It may be that it will be somewhat supplemented by the presence of NATO in the near future, says Kaikkonen.

According to the ex-defense minister, the question regarding the bases is more related to the DCA agreement with the United States than to NATO. Namely, with the DCA agreement, which entered into force at the beginning of September 2024, the United States can use the bases in Finland for storing its own weapons and for the use of its troops.

It is clear that coalition hegemony at the head of Finland’s foreign and security policy brings its own spark to Finland’s current NATO policy.

For example, the pro-NATO coalition has not had any antipathies towards the military alliance or the United States over the years, as some other parties have.

In addition, Stubb already emphasized as a presidential candidate that he intends to be “NATO president”. It means that Finland works actively in NATO – both as a producer of security and as a bearer of responsibility. This can be seen, for example, in a significant increase in international training activities, as well as in the fact that Finland participates in the maintenance of NATO’s nuclear deterrent by participating in the alliance’s nuclear weapons exercises.

However, it is good to remember that already during the previous government and under the leadership of President Niinistö, Finland decided to join NATO without reservation and to strengthen its cooperation with the United States.

These alliances are strengthened in order to maximize the safety of Finns in the current dangerous world.

However, it is good for the foreign policy leadership to take into account the criticism of the opposition in the flow of information on NATO affairs. It should be improved both in the direction of the parliament and the citizens.