Nato to establish permanent presence in northern Finland, Helsinki's defence minister says

A Nato Forward Land Forces Multinational Staff Element will be established in Finland, Helsinki's defence minister has revealed.

The unit will be part of a permanent Nato presence in northern Finland, and its operations will take place in Rovaniemi and Sodankylä, according to local reports. 

Antti Häkkänen, a National Coalition Party politician, who has served as the country's defence minister since June 2023, said Rovaniemi offers the best conditions for the new headquarters. 

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"Earlier, we succeeded in securing the support of our allies for our approach to Forward Land Forces (FLF) Finland. The implementation of that model has progressed well," Mr Häkkänen said in a statement. 

The structure of the Multinational Staff Element (MNSE) will evolve in the coming years. The plan is to have half of its activities carried out by Sweden and Finland and the other half by the contributing allies. 

The FLF are part of Nato's peacetime activities and, under normal conditions, they train and exercise together with their home national defence forces. 

Personnel will be in Finland for exercises and as required by the security situation. 

However, should the security situation change, the FLF presence will increase to brigade size. The allies can also expand their land forces in peacetime. 

"The peacetime strength of the MNSE will reach the same level as the Multi Corps Land Component Command in Mikkeli. This is a step towards strengthening Nato's deterrence and defence in the High North and the Arctic region," Mr Häkkänen added. 

"The MNSE should eventually have a few dozen employees. Together with the allies contributing to FLF Finland, we are enhancing readiness across the alliance and building even better interoperability."

The other contributing nations, who have announced their participation in Nato's FLF Finland, include the United Kingdom, France and the Nordic countries, such as Denmark, Norway and Iceland.