HELSINKI. July 3 (Interfax) - Finland made it clear before the NATO summit scheduled to be held in Washington next week that it is changing its stance on the presence of foreign troops on its territory."Over the past year, Finland's expectations from NATO have evolved, and the Nordic country is now seeking the presence of allied troops on its soil," Yle reported on Wednesday, citing Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen.
Just one year ago, Finland considered such foreign ground forces mainly symbolic, the report said. As Finland itself has strong ground forces, it focused on looking for other benefits from NATO, the report said. It was a matter of honor for Finland not even to call for assistance as Finland had said before it could survive by itself, the report said.
"We saw a need to create a tailored model for Finland to ensure that allied troops show their presence and defense capabilities here whenever needed," the defense minister said.
Finland hopes that troops from some countries will visit Finland regularly for exercises and that the training will be reinforced if the situation becomes difficult. The defense ministers of the NATO states approved this idea in June, and the so-called Finnish model is now being created, Yle reported.
Hakkanen is now visiting Europe and the United States to discuss what NATO states could give troops to Finland, Yle reported.
According to the media outlet, repair of roads and bridges has already been planned in Lapland for prompt delivery, in particular, of U.S. troops.
The NATO summit scheduled to be held in Washington in July will be the second one for Finland, which joined NATO in April 2023. The Finnish delegation will be led by President Alexander Stubb, who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and Hakkanen.
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