The United States and Finland are currently in the midst of negotiating a defense cooperation agreement (DCA) that would allow the U.S. military to use Finnish soil for training and weapons storage, the local Helsingin Sanomat reported on Monday, May 1st.
Following the signing of a letter of intent in 2016, the actual plans for a Finnish-U.S. DCA were first announced by the U.S. Department of State following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year and were meant “to further enable future bilateral security cooperation” between Helsinki and Washington. But even if it would have happened either way, Finland’s successful NATO accession last month helped speed up the process substantially.
Last week, the negotiations entered a new phase during the talks between the two countries’ foreign affairs representatives in Helsinki. According to Mikael Antell, the deputy director general of the political department of the Finnish ministry for foreign affairs and the lead negotiator on the Finnish side, the text of the agreement is now almost ready after it was revised only once “in a positive spirit and in search of a solution among allies.”
The foremost aim of the agreement is to strengthen Finland’s defense capabilities through the presence of U.S. Army personnel and the possible early deployment of American defense systems—both viewed primarily as a deterrence against any future Russian invasion.
Most importantly, the terms of the DCA will allow the deployment of U.S. military units to specified locations throughout Finland, but the rules that are currently being finalized will also set certain guidelines to regulate their stay within the country as well as the details of storing American military equipment. Potential U.S. infrastructure investments are also on the table.
For instance, Antell mentioned the possibility of creating a service center on Finnish soil reserved for the maintenance of America’s state-of-the-art fighter jets, the F-35s. Other investments could be similar to the ones specified in a previous DCA with Norway, under which the U.S. invested around €170 million into the Rygge airport to streamline the coming and going of American troops into the country.
At the same time, the deployment of nuclear weapons is categorically excluded from the agreement.
One of the issues that were harder to agree on was the extent of the territories to be used by the U.S. Army. Following multiple rounds of negotiations, Washington was forced to reduce its initial request. Furthermore, the agreement refers to the territories as “agreed facilities and areas” and not as ‘military bases’—even though they are basically the same thing.
According to the Helsingin Sanomat, the negotiations will likely continue until 2024, after which a final draft agreement will be submitted to parliament for approval.
In the meantime, the U.S. is also negotiating similar agreements with Denmark and Sweden, the latter of whom is also hoping to become a NATO member later this year. The DCA with Norway mentioned above was concluded back in 2021 and gave “unhindered” access to three airports and one naval station for U.S. military personnel.
