NATO to establish new land command in Finland near Russian border in 2025

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) will set up a new land command in Finland near the Russian border next year, tasked with overseeing the alliance’s land force operations in northern Europe in the event of a military conflict, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said on Friday (September 27).

Finland, which joined Nato in 2023 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is organising the alliance’s presence on its territory.

Multi Corps Land Component Command

“This morning, I have decided that we will propose to Nato to establish the command in conjunction with the Army Headquarters in Mikkeli,” Hakkanen said, referring to the city located about a two-hour drive from the Russian border.

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Nato’s new unit, known as the Multi Corps Land Component Command, will operate under the alliance’s US-based Norfolk Joint Force Command and work closely with Finland’s land force command, already situated in Mikkeli.

The unit will initially be composed of a few dozen international officials and have an annual budget of €8.5 million ($9.5 million), Hakkanen said at a news conference.

Helsinki’s long-term plans with Nato

Finland and neighbouring Sweden, which also joined Nato this year, announced earlier that Sweden would coordinate foreign Nato troop visits and international drills in northern Finland.

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However, Finland has no plans to host a permanent multinational force, unlike the nearby Baltic states, due to the significant size of its own military forces.

Speaking at the same news conference on Friday, the commander of the Finnish army, Pasi Valimaki, said the geographic scope of the new unit would be decided at a later date but initially it would oversee land force operations planning in the Nordic region.

With inputs from Reuters