The Finnish Parliament unanimously approved on Monday the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) signed last December with the United States. In concrete terms, this text allows American soldiers to have access to 15 military bases in Finland. This agreement also authorizes their presence and training on Finnish territory, as well as the storage of American military equipment.
The defence agreement allows the two countries to strengthen their cooperation in crisis situations. It is framed by the obligation to respect Finland’s sovereignty, its national laws and international law, the government and the Foreign Affairs Committee stressed.
“We do not expect the United States to take care of Finland’s defense. This agreement significantly improves our ability to act together in all situations,” Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen explained in December.
For the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and member of parliament, Kimmo Kiljunen (Social Democratic Party), who played a central role in examining the agreement, this adoption is a “historic moment”he said during the plenary session on Monday.
Finland concerned since invasion of Ukraine
Such a rapprochement is obviously linked to the geopolitical context, shaken since February 2022 by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Relations between Finland and its neighbor have deteriorated considerably since then. So much so that the country, worried about its security, decided to join NATO in April 2023.
Finland’s meteoric rise to NATO membership
A decision that had provoked the anger of Vladimir Putin. The Russian president accused the West at the end of last year of having “dragged Finland into NATO” and stated that this membership would create ” problems “, where there is none “didn’t have any”In retaliation, Russia had promised to take “countermeasures” and announced a Russian military buildup. Which then prompted Finland to sign this defense agreement with the United States.
“Over the past two years, we have seen that there are very few limits to Russia’s aggressive behavior. We see that Russia will remain a threat to global security for the foreseeable future,” justified in December Elina Valtonen, the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Finland has in the past avoided joining NATO precisely for fear of upsetting its giant neighbour.
11 such agreements already signed
The adoption of the agreement with Finland comes after Sweden gave the green light to a similar agreement with the United States last week. However, the debate there was much more heated, with opponents accusing the text of paving the way for the deployment of nuclear weapons in the country. While the issue was also debated in Finland, lawmakers ensured that the obligation to respect national laws applies to nuclear weapons, the import and transit of which are prohibited through Finnish territory.
More generally, the United States has concluded similar DCA agreements with 11 other NATO countries, including Norway and Denmark. This allows them, just like in Finland, to have access to military bases and thus facilitate the deployment of troops if necessary.
(With AFP)
