After Russian president Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea following unrest in Ukraine in 2014, the threat to Scandinavia has grown significantly and now Finland is planning to step up its defence.
Jussi Niinistö, the Finnish defence minister, has invited US forces to participate in a large-scale military exercise, which could be held as early as 2020.
He told reporters: “Finland has been attending all kinds of exercises during the recent years. It’s time to have our own.”
Neighbouring Sweden held an exercise in September, dubbed ‘Aurora’, which included troops from France, the US, Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as 19,000 Swedish troops – and Finland wants to host something similar.
If Finland holds a similar drill, as planned, it would be the biggest the country has ever hosted.
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Mr Niinistö added: “Sweden said it is ready to participate. But so far I’ve only raised the issue with my counterparts and opened the door for more discussions.”
The comments come as US Defence Secretary James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis visits the Finnish capital for a meeting with the Northern Group, a defence forum which includes Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.
In 2015, the Northern Group branded Russia the biggest challenge to European security and decided to come together to better defend the region against aggression from Moscow.
Last month, Norway said an electronic attack that jammed GPS on flights came from Russia and occurred at the same time Putin’s forces were carrying out their ‘Zapad’ military drills nearby.
Frank Bakke-Jensen, Norway’s defence minister, said: “We know this noise came from the other side of the border.
“But disabling air traffic like this is something we have prepared for, so it didn’t affect us.”
Finland, which shares a 833-mile border with Russia, has moved to develop closer ties with the West and Niinistö’s meeting with President Trump in August is further proof of deepening relations with the US.
Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, believes Washington’s engagement through the Northern Group is extremely important.
He said: “There is a lot less tone deafness from Washington these days about the domestic situation [in Finland].
“And this is actually allowing for more cooperation than ever before to take place, both in public and behind the scenes.”
Plans for the Finnish military drill will show Russia that Scandinavia is serious about defence and preventing any future crises.
Former US diplomat James Townsend said: “In the region, it’s a big deal. It’s a sign to neighbours, Russia and to the Finnish people that things are changing.”