By Guo Bingxin
Finnish media reported on September 17 that NATO plans to set up two new commands in Finland, one being the Northern Europe army command announced in April this year, and the other being the forward land command. This indicates that Nordic countries are taking faster steps to merge into NATO and reshape the defense landscape in Europe.
It is reported that the Northern Europe army command is likely to be located in Mikkeli in southern Finland, and it will report to the NATO Joint Force Command based in Norfolk, the US. It will command roughly 80,000 troops, with Finnish officers and tens of their colleagues from other NATO members constituting the first batch of commanders and staff officers, and the number will grow in the future. The forward land command is planned to be located in Rovaniemi or Sodankylä in northern Finland. Swedish defense minister recently announced that Sweden will serve as a coordinator for NATO's establishment of the new land command and will lead the command when it's fully functional.
Analysts pointed out that the new forward land command is of great significance, considering its location, subject of command, and commanding architecture.
In terms of location, the command is situated in the Lapland region within the Arctic circle, the convergence between northern and eastern Europe, which means northern Europe and the Arctic are becoming the new gravity of NATO's defense strategy. In fact, there is already the Rovaniemi air force base and several army camps and facilities in the region, and the US military plans to deploy at least one F-35A fighter squadron there. The establishment of the forward land command will expedite the formation of a new layout of NATO forces.
In terms of the subject of command, the new land command, as a tier-1 force in NATO's three-tier readiness system, is capable of rapid deployment. Currently, Finland is in talks with the US, the UK, Norway and some other countries about the staffing of the new command, which is expected to host over 1,000 personnel in wartime.
In terms of commanding architecture, the forward land command will be led by Sweden, since "Finland needs to focus on the defense on the southern border". This arrangement can also further refine the division of work in NATO's commanding system.
According to analysts, since Finland joined NATO in April 2023, the US-led bloc has been conducting military reform on it in an attempt to turn Europe's east wing into the forward position of major-country competition. To increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP as required by the organization, Finland in its recent budget meeting proposed an extra allocation of 67 million Euros (about US$74.64 million), which has sparked strong protests at home and exposed the government to immense pressure. How the two NATO commands in Finland will perform is still to be seen.
