American military equipment and military personnel will be able to stay in Finland, as well as conduct military exercises there in accordance with the DCA – Defense Cooperation Agreement between the two countries.
As reported in publications Helsingin Sanomat, DCA negotiations began between the US and Finland at the end of April. It will allow the American armed forces to freely use Finnish land and bases for exercises and storage of materiel. Mikael Antell, spokesman for the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained that this agreement will complement the country’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance:
“The DCA allows the deployment of troops, their presence in the country, the preliminary storage of military equipment and the possible investment in infrastructure through funds provided by the US Congress to the Pentagon.”
For example, he says, it is possible to create a hangar in Finland to service the fifth generation F-35 fighters. However, the representative of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the DCA does not concern the possible deployment of nuclear weapons in Finland. According to the publication, negotiations on the agreement at the official level will last until 2024, then the draft document will be submitted to the parliament for consideration.
As of early 2022, the US has signed DCAs or similar agreements with 17 members EU and NATO, as well as six other transatlantic defense allies that are not members of the European Union, such as Norway.
On April 4, Finland became the 31st member of NATO. After that, she proposed to place the alliance’s military base in the west of the country, in the city of Kaugawa.
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