Finland to sign defense pact with US

Finland will on Monday, December 18 sign a defense cooperation agreement with the United States that will bring US soldiers and military material to aid in the Nordic nation's defense, the Finnish government said on Thursday.

Russia's Nordic neighbor Finland became the NATO military alliance's newest member earlier this year in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The agreement with the United States is aimed at allowing swift military access and aid to Finland in case of conflict, officials said ahead of the announcement.

"The fact that there will be no need to agree on everything separately, makes organizing peacetime operations easier, but above all it can be vital in a crisis," Finland's foreign minister Elina Valtonen told reporters.

It lists 15 facilities and areas in Finland to which the U.S. military will have unimpeded access and where it can also store military equipment and ammunition, officials said.

No storage or transport of nuclear or biological weapons

Neighboring Sweden, which has also asked to join NATO but has been left waiting due to resistance from existing members Turkey and Hungary, signed a similar agreement with the U.S. last week, giving it access to 17 areas including four air bases, one harbor and five military camps.

Existing Nordic NATO member Norway has given the US military access to four areas on its territory, its own Defence Cooperation Agreement showed.

Finland will not allow storage or transport of nuclear and biological weapons or anti-personnel mines on its territory, in line with the international non-proliferation treaties it has committed to previously, officials said.

The US military can have a permanent presence and regular exercises in Finland, but there are no plans for permanent bases, they said.

The agreement will be signed in Washington on Monday, before official ratification by legislators in both countries.