On Thursday, February 13, 2025, during the North Atlantic Council meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen announced his decision to approve the deployment of NATO Forward Land Forces (FLF) in the garrisons of Rovaniemi and Sodankylä on Finnish territory.
Photo: US Army
“A forward land forces presence, scalable according to the security situation, together with Finland’s national defense capabilities, is an important part of strengthening the deterrence and defense of the entire alliance in the north and more broadly in the Arctic region. As deployment locations, Rovaniemi and Sodankylä provide challenging yet excellent conditions for troop training, not only in northern Finland but also across a wider area,” Defense Minister Häkkänen said.
The NATO Forward Land Forces bases will be part of the Alliance’s collective defense tasks during peacetime. Under normal circumstances, the land forces will conduct exercises and training jointly with Finnish troops. The FLF command component will be permanently stationed in Finland, while the units themselves will be present there as part of exercises. The FLF forces will be closely integrated into NATO’s operational planning, and if the security situation changes, their numbers can always be increased to brigade level. Reinforcements will be practiced regularly, even during peacetime.
“Through FLF operations, we are building even better interoperability with our allies and strengthening NATO’s readiness and ability to implement NATO’s operational plan in Finland if necessary. The land forces are a strong demonstration of the Alliance’s unity, readiness, and defense capability,” Defense Minister Häkkänen stated.
Sweden will serve as the framework nation for NATO’s Forward Land Forces bases in Finland. The framework nation has significant responsibilities in planning and establishing FLF components in close cooperation with the host nation, other participating countries, and NATO.
In June 2024, NATO defense ministers decided on the deployment of a command component and Forward Land Forces bases in Finland. This decision was confirmed at the NATO Summit in July 2024. At the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in February 2025, further guidelines on the basic structure of the FLF were approved, along with details on the implementation of the command component.
Finland became a NATO member on June 4, 2023. On December 18, 2023, a defense cooperation agreement with the United States was signed, granting U.S. forces access to 15 Finnish military installations, including five in the north of the country, near the Russian border.
Puolustusministeri @anttihakkanen on päättänyt Naton eteentyönnetyn maavoimajoukon ensisijaisiksi sijoituspaikoiksi Rovaniemen ja Sodankylän varuskunta-alueet.
Puolustusministeri kertoi asiasta liittolaisille Naton puolustusministerikokouksessa 13.2.25.https://t.co/6yIOogXVu3
— Puolustusministeriö (@DefenceFinland) February 13, 2025