Finland and US Complete Talks on Defense Agreement

On Tuesday, Finland and the United States wrapped up final talks on a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA).

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The agreement will be published until its passing by the parliament, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced. Parliamentary passing is not expected before the end of 2023.

The Finnish parliamentary constitutional committee will decide whether the agreement can be passed by a simple majority or by a two-thirds majority.

The agreement will define the rights and duties of U.S. forces when training or otherwise stationed in Finland, while complementing Finland's NATO membership, Finnish commentators have said.

According to Finnish media, there would be no actual U.S. bases in Finland, but the U.S. forces could be present in the country in some form.

Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Monday reported that U.S. troops would be granted access to some undisclosed garrisons and military bases, and exclusive access to sites for storing vehicles, weapons and other materials required to conduct military exercises in Finland.

On Tuesday, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that the results of the final talks will now be examined "at the political level." He said the DCA agreement is "crucial to Finland and other Nordics."