On Monday, December 18, the United States will sign a defense cooperation agreement with Finland, which will provide Finland with American military hardware. The same agreement will regulate the use of US military personnel to assist Finland in the military sphere.
The Finnish government announced this on Thursday.
Recall that Finland became a member of NATO earlier this year in response to the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The agreement between the United States and Finland is aimed at ensuring rapid military access and assistance to Finland in the event of conflict, officials said.
“The fact that it is not necessary to negotiate everything separately makes it easier to organize operations in peacetime, but above all it could be vital in a crisis situation,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told reporters.
The agreement lists 15 facilities and locations in Finland to which the U.S. military will have unlimited access and where it will be able to store military equipment and ammunition, officials said.
Sweden, which also applied for NATO membership, signed a similar agreement with the United States last week, giving it access to 17 territories, including four air bases, a port and five military camps.
NATO member Norway has given US military access to four areas of its territory.
Finland will not allow nuclear and biological weapons or antipersonnel mines to be stored or transported on its territory in accordance with international nonproliferation treaties it has previously committed to respect, officials said.
The US military will be able to be constantly present and conduct regular exercises on Finnish territory.
The agreement will be signed in Washington on Monday, after which it will be subject to ratification by lawmakers from both countries.
