NATO To Form New Land Command Near Russia's Border To Lead Alliance Troop Operations In Northern Europe

Illustration of NATO soldiers. (Source: NATO)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will form a new ground command in Finland near Russia's borders next year, tasked with leading the alliance's land forces operations in northern Europe in the event of a military conflict, Finnish Defense Minister said Friday.

"This morning, I have decided that we will propose to NATO to form the command along with the Army Headquarters in Mikkeli," Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said, following up on his June announcement that all NATO member countries had given their political approval for the plan..

The center, which NATO calls the Multi-Borch Land Component Command, will operate under the US-based Norfolk Joint Forces Command and along with Finland's own ground force command already located in Mikkeli, about two hours away from the Finland-Russia border.

Defense Minister Hakkanen said the unit would initially have an annual budget of 8.5 million euros and consisted of several dozen international officials.

Speaking at the same news conference on Friday, Finnish army commander Lieutenant General Pasi Valimaki, said the geographic coverage of the new unit would be decided in the future, but initially the unit would oversee the planning of ground troops operations in the Nordic region.

Finland joined the NATO alliance last year, in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine which began in 2022, and regulates the alliance's presence in its territory.

Earlier this month, Finland and neighboring Sweden, which also joined the alliance this year, said Sweden would coordinate foreign NATO troop visits and international military exercises in northern Finland.

However, Helsinki is not looking for the same permanent multinational forces that have been deployed, for example, in nearby Baltic countries, given the large number of Finnish troops.