Finnish authorities are negotiating the deployment of US military bases in the country

The Finnish and U.S. governments have negotiated a bilateral military cooperation agreement. If the agreement is reached, the US armed forces will be able to use the territory of Finland for training and deployment of equipment and weapons, in effect organizing military bases in the country.

Source. This was reported by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper with reference to the Deputy Minister of Defense Mikael Antell.

The Finnish authorities believe that the agreement will strengthen its security and defense capabilities. Helsinki is already a party to several existing defense agreements with Western partners.

However, this agreement is special, Antell says. It will allow the United States to send military personnel to Finland and leave them in the country, store weapons, and invest in the necessary infrastructure. Nuclear weapons are not the subject of this agreement, the official clarified.

The United States already has agreements on deploying military bases with other NATO countries. Finland will sign the document as a newcomer to the alliance. In May 2022, Finland applied to join the alliance and became a member on April 4, 2023. After that, the land border between Russia and NATO increased to about 2,600 kilometers.

Background. As a reminder, in Helsinki, Finland, the authorities seized the property and land of the Russian Center for Science and Culture.