Finland recently signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States to grant the U.S. military broad access to the Nordic country and the border it shares with Russia. Finland became NATO’s newest member earlier this year in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The defense agreement lists 15 facilities and areas in Finland to which the U.S. military will have unimpeded access and where it can also store military equipment and ammunition. The areas will include four airbases, a military port and railway access to northern Finland, where the U.S. military will have a storage area near a railway leading to the Russian border.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Finland’s decision to “further strengthen our security bonds by signing a Defense Cooperation Agreement.”
“When it goes into effect, our militaries will be able to collaborate more efficiently and more effectively. Our troops will have more opportunities to train together,” he said. “This agreement builds on three decades of security cooperation between our nations on everything from countering terrorism to boosting Finland’s defense capabilities, including through the recent purchase of F-35 fighter jets.”
The treaty with Finland is just the latest demonstration of the United States comprehensive effort to bolster transatlantic security, recounted Secretary Blinken. “Last year we amended our Defense Cooperation Agreement with Norway. Earlier this month we signed a new defense agreement with Sweden.” Denmark has also made a similar agreement.
“We now have a network of Defense Cooperation Agreements that stretches from northern to southern Europe, from the Norwegian Sea to the Black Sea – providing security and stability for people all across the continent,” he said.
“Finland knows almost better than anyone what is at stake for Ukraine,” said Secretary Blinken. “In 1939, the Finns also faced a Russian invasion and proved that a free nation can put up an incredibly powerful and resilient resistance.”
Finland’s “history is a reminder of why it’s so important that we all continue to stand with Ukraine, for autocrats who try to redraw one nation’s border by force almost certainly will not stop there,” warned Secretary Blinken. “And that’s precisely why we’ll continue to work together to defend the values of freedom, independence, and sovereignty that NATO and agreements like this one were created to protect in the first place.”
