By Shi Wen
US Army's armored troops participate in a joint military exercise in Finland.
Foreign media reported that the Finnish parliament passed a defense agreement with the US on July 1 that allows American troops to use 15 military bases within Finland. Finland's approval of the agreement will turn Europe's east wing into the forefront of major-country games more quickly and may aggravate regional conflicts.
According to the agreement, Finland will open up one military port, four air force bases, seven army barracks and training ranges, and three weapon stock bases to the US. Moreover, American troops, upon application, can use the railroads in northern Finland and set up weapon and ammunition storage facilities to facilitate future deployment.
It is learnt that the 15 military bases opened up this time will servefor different tasks according to the US military's needs. For instance, the US Navy plans to build a material maintenance center and a P-8A anti-submarine aircraft station at the Upinniemi military port in southern Finland, along with regular deployment of an Aegis ship. In case of conflict escalation, the US military will be able to quickly make moves from the Gulf of Finland to the Baltic Sea, turning the latter into NATO's inland lake.
It's worth mentioning that the US has been deploying military forces in Finland in the name of exercise and training ever since the Nordic country joined NATO. In 2023, the US Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets", held Exercise Talvikotka with their Finnish counterpart, the Utti Jaeger Regiment, at Kemijarvi ; US Air Force's F-16 fighters arrived at the Kuopio Air Force Base for joint training with Finland's F/A-18fighters. During this year's joint exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 of NATO, the Finnish Navy hosted polar anti-submarine subjects and the US military assigned a submarine to participate.
In addition to Finland, the US has also signed similar agreements with 11 NATO members including Sweden and Norway, the former approving the opening-up of 17 military bases, military airports, and ground force bases and the latter four military bases to US troops.
The signing of multiple defense agreements mirrored NATO's adjustment of its troops' deployments in Europe, analysts said. Recently, the organization made a series of deployments on the north wing and east wing of Europe. Finland, Norway and the three Baltic states have jointly erected an "UAV defense wall" that links the North Pole region, the Baltic region, and Europe's east wing. Finland is acting more quickly to build the undersea railway tunnel connecting it with Estonia and aspires to complete the transport channel across the Baltic Sea within two years to increase the mobility of armored troops in the cross-regional maneuvering. Besides, Romania, a country in southern Europe, has begun building NATO's largest military base in the continent, which is planned to accommodate NATO's elite forces including the US 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). When it's completed, the military bloc will have completed its new round of strategic deployment underpinned by a large group of mobile troops stationed among the numerous bases scattered along Europe's east swing.
Given the endless regional conflicts, the US-led NATO's ramping up of deployments in East Europe may exacerbate the turmoil and conflict in the region.
For one thing, the growing scale of military exercises and high-frequency appearance of vessels and aircraft have plunged the region into greater tension. Following the exercise Steadfast Defender 2024, the US has initiated the Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS-24) multilateral exercise. Media reports show that the number of emergency fighter takeoffs by NATO members in the past two months was 2.3 times as many as in the same period last year.
For another, when nuclear weapons become an approach of confrontation among major countries, Europe faces a mounting risk of nuclear proliferation. Relying on America's commitments like "nuclear protection" and "extended nuclear deterrence", NATO has sped up its nuclear deployment in Europe. According to its plan, the organization will mobilize airports in northern and eastern Europe to station the participating troops in this year's exercise Steadfast Noon, which will further fuel the spark of a nuclear war in the continent.
