Sweden wants to station soldiers in Finnish province that borders Russia
Photo: Peter Hultqvist, Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Swedish Parliament (Flickr by Socialdemokratema)
Sweden plans to deploy its soldiers in the Finnish province of Lapland as part of its cooperation with NATO. This region borders Russia, Peter Hultqvist, the chairman of the Swedish Defense Committee, made this statement in a comment to Iltalehti.
"I know that Swedish defense forces and the government are preparing to send troops to Finland. This will be done as part of NATO cooperation," Hultqvist said.
He clarified that forces are currently being assembled in northern Finland, consisting of soldiers from various countries, and Sweden will participate in this operation. Norwegian troops will also be part of these forces.
According to Iltalehti, the creation of joint forces was discussed even before Finland and Sweden became NATO members.
Hultqvist noted that the deployment of Swedish soldiers in Finnish Lapland will send a strong signal to the Russian authorities.
"It's important that we take into account Russia's actions and, within the framework of our security policy, make it clear that we share responsibility for the Northern Calotte (the part of Norway, Sweden, and Finland located north of the Arctic Circle)," he added.
What preceded it
In April 2023, Finland became a member of NATO. Meanwhile, Sweden joined NATO only in March of this year.
The process of countries joining the Alliance began after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This year, Finland's Security Police emphasized that Russia poses a threat to the country's national security. In particular, there were concerns about Russian espionage.
