April 10, 2024 (EIRNS)—NATO is looking to set up a headquarters in the Finnish town of Mikkeli, reported TASS, citing the Finnish IltaLehti news tabloid. Mikkeli is about 200 km northeast of Helsinki, but only about 100 km from the Russian border at its closest point in the direction of St. Petersburg. “Finland will host the headquarters of NATO ground forces. The commander of our defense forces has recommended this,” Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram told the paper.
In peacetime, the headquarters will plan and implement NATO training activities in the region. If created, the so-called high-readiness headquarters, will operate around the clock and report to its headquarters in Norfolk on the U.S. East Coast, the report said. The newspaper reported that “the issue is on the agenda for the NATO summit in Washington in July.” Mikkeli is already home to Finland’s army headquarters.
