The United States and Finland signed a treaty on enhanced defence cooperation to improve military-to-military cooperation and enhance NATO’s effectiveness. The signing ceremony was broadcast on the US Department of State’s YouTube channel.
The agreement on enhanced defence cooperation was signed by the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen.
“Once the agreement enters into force, militaries will be able to cooperate more effectively and efficiently, troops will have more opportunities for joint training, and NATO interoperability will be strengthened,” Blinken said, he was quoted as saying by the US State Department.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said the agreement would give Finland an opportunity to take co-operation with the US to a new level.
The US military will have access to 15 Finnish military facilities, including air and naval bases, garrison sites, training grounds, warehouses and border guard barracks. The agreement will allow U.S. forces to station defence equipment, supplies and materials on Finnish territory, and will permit the entry and movement of U.S. aircraft, vessels and vehicles.
Finland became a NATO member in April 2023.
We will remind, earlier the press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Russia regrets the decision of the Government of Finland to sign documents on the deployment of US military bases on its territory. According to him, the agreement on defence cooperation will lead to increased tension in relations with Russia.