Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen announced on Friday that NATO will establish a new land command headquarters in Finland, near the Russian border, next year. This command will be responsible for leading NATO’s ground forces operations in Northern Europe in the event of a military conflict.
Finland joined NATO last year. Häkkänen, following up on a previous announcement made in June, stated, “This morning, I decided that we will propose to NATO the establishment of this command in conjunction with the Army Command in Mikkeli.”
The new headquarters will operate under NATO’s Joint Force Command Norfolk, based in the United States, and will work in collaboration with Finland’s Land Command, which is already located in Mikkeli, just a two-hour drive from the Finnish-Russian border. Häkkänen mentioned during a press conference that the command will initially have an annual budget of €8.5 million ($9.5 million).
