An armored brigade of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will be established in Mikkeli, Finland, near the Russian border.
The unit will consist of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The official announcement of this decision is expected in the coming weeks. The new unit will also be known as FLF (Forward Land Forces). The information went viral on August 21 that Finland is in discussions with several NATO member states about stationing troops within the country.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance established on April 4, 1949. It was founded by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty. NATO’s primary purpose is to ensure mutual defence and security among its member countries through collective defence mechanisms.
The alliance conducts military operations and missions ranging from collective defence to crisis management and cooperative security. These include peacekeeping missions, counter-terrorism operations, and disaster relief.
NATO sources also told Iltalehti that decisions on the matter have already been made, and NATO and Finland will publicly and officially announce the establishment of NATO headquarters in Mikkeli in the coming weeks.
It is noted that weapons for the NATO armored brigade will also be stored in Finland, including armored vehicles.
“The Finnish Defence Forces and the national leadership have concluded that Finland needs the presence of soldiers from NATO countries on Finnish soil to enhance preventive deterrence. NATO brigade officers, soldiers who guard and service weapons, and soldiers responsible for troop logistics will be permanently present in Finland,” the statement said.
It is noted that NATO considers the brigade’s ground forces unit as a combat unit capable of delivering a strike that has a preventive effect. NATO ground forces brigades also protect Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
