Following its joining NATO earlier this year, Finland is set to sign a defense treaty with the US today (Monday) allowing it to station troops and weapons throughout the country.
According to EuroNews and AP, the treaty grants the US access to 15 sites throughout the country, including a key naval base in the south, air bases, and a large training area in the northern Lapland area. Sweden, which is on the cusp of joining NATO, signed a similar deal last week.
Finland, which maintained a general policy of neutrality for decades, especially during the Cold War, changed its approach when Russia deepened its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This led to a political sea change in the country and widespread support for joining the western alliance, culminating in the joining of NATO and the aforementioned defense treaty, which needs to be approved by the Finnish parliament.
The Helsinki Times reports that the only parliamentary faction which has expressed some reservations is the small Left Alliance party, whose Chairperson Jussi Saramo expressed the desire to allow Finnish sovereignty to be restored in cases of US troops committing crimes on US soil and insisted that the deal include a provision barring the stationing of nuclear weapons in Finland.
Presumably, all other parties support the deal, but the comment period and debates will show if this remains true before ratification.
