Negotiations on the creation of military facilities are not related to the possible presence of nuclear weapons in Finland from the United States.
It is expected that a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) will be signed between Finland and the United States, which provides for the possibility of the presence of American troops on Finnish territory and military equipment, as well as the organization and conduct of military exercises. Helsingin Sanomat reports on this on May 1.
Negotiations on DCA among state representatives began at the end of April. The agreement is expected to give the US military appropriate permission to use Finnish territory unhindered. This also applies to training and storage of relevant material resources. Finnish Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikael Antell explained the situation. He noted that the agreement signed with the United States will complete the country’s NATO membership.
The terms of the DCA allow the deployment of military units. The rules will govern their presence on state territory, pre-storage of military equipment, and potential U.S. infrastructure investment. As Antell explains, this will be done with funds from the US.
As an example, the diplomat noted a possible option to create a hangar in Finland to service the fifth generation F-35 fighter aircraft. At the same time, the representative of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that DCA is not interested in the possible deployment of nuclear weapons in Finland. As the negotiations began, the US demanded access to even more territories. Territories in agreements are not called bases, but common territories in English – “understood objects and territories”.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, negotiations on an official-level defense cooperation agreement between the US and Finland will continue until 2024. After that, allegedly, the draft document will be submitted to parliamentary representatives for consideration.
The US has signed DCAs or similar agreements with 17 EU and NATO members. In addition, relevant agreements have been agreed by six non-European Union transatlantic defense allies, this is especially true for Norway.
Recall that Sweden and Finland put their navies on alert. Admiral Eva Skoog Haslum, Commander of the Swedish Navy, commented on the situation. She noted that Russian warships not only intend to damage wind farms in the country, but also plan to launch an attack on the Aland Islands.
Source: Focus
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