Recently, Finland's official media reported that NATO plans to set up a Nordic army headquarters in Mikeli, Finland. When the news was released, it coincided with the first anniversary of Finland's accession to NATO, indicating that Finland and other Nordic countries are accelerating their integration into NATO and reshaping Europe's geopolitical and defense pattern.

Finland becomes a new pivot of NATO

Reported that the planned headquarters will be under the jurisdiction of the NATO Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, USA. In the future, the command will be in a "24-hour high alert state", and its main responsibilities include planning daily work and training, and dispatching and deploying troops in "gray areas" and crisis times. In wartime, the headquarters will be transformed into the "NATO Northwest Land Operations Cluster Headquarters", taking over the ground combat forces of Finland, Sweden, Norway and other countries and the garrisons of other NATO member countries in the region.

Mikeli is the headquarters of the Finnish Army, with relatively complete military facilities. Kivinin, the promoter of the new command plan and the commander in chief of the Finnish Defense Forces, said that the plan would be formally adopted at the NATO summit in July this year. At that time, the new command will be put into operation in about one month. The Nordic Army Command has a total force of about 80000. Considering that most of the Nordic countries implement compulsory military service and have wartime mobilization laws and organizational experience, NATO will set up an army headquarters in Finland, which will expand its military strength to a certain extent.

The foreign media quoted senior NATO officials as saying that the NATO Joint Forces Command has established a preparatory committee for the Nordic branch command, and the first batch of at least 375 officers will work as commanders and staff officers. The new command will have jurisdiction over the Arctic Circle Operation Center, the Training Command Center, the Joint Operation Command, and several supply support units.

Analysts pointed out that since joining NATO, Finland has completely abandoned the "neutral country" position, and has constantly moved closer to the United States, becoming a new strategic fulcrum of NATO in northern Europe. At the end of 2023, Finland announced that it would open 15 military bases to the US military, including 10 army bases and training grounds. The railway transportation system in northern Finland also allows the US military to use it free of charge. After the new headquarters is put into use in the future, the United States may take this opportunity to promote allies to increase their troops in the region.

Finland announced this news on the first anniversary of becoming a member of NATO, aiming to use NATO's expansion to enhance its influence in the field of European defense. Finland's Defense Minister Hakanin said that Finland will continue to increase the proportion of defense expenditure in GDP, which is planned to reach 3% within two years, so as to become an important force to defend NATO's northwest border and support the Central South European Union friends.

NATO's expansion momentum intensifies

Prior to that, NATO has set up a joint force headquarters in the Netherlands, which is mainly responsible for joint air patrols and sea area control in the north; The United States has also basically determined a new strategic bomber station in Norway; NATO also launched the construction project of "the largest military base in Europe" in Romania. These actions show that NATO has built a new command structure in Europe based on the United States, with Northern and Southern Europe as the two wings and Eastern Europe as the front line, and has accumulated strength for further expansion.

Almost in step with Finland's announcement of the establishment of the Nordic Army Headquarters, Sweden, the "new member" of NATO, also announced that the country's Gotland Island would become a new military base for NATO in northern Europe. From the perspective of geographical location, Godland Island guards the main road leading to the Baltic Sea, and at the same time, it can radiate troops to the North Sea on this basis. Finland said that it would change the three main maritime traffic points in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland into "military border observation points". The report points out that with these bases as the fulcrum, NATO has recently "established new borders" from the Arctic to the Baltic Sea to Eastern Europe and the Black Sea.

In addition, Finland is building an undersea railway tunnel with Estonia to connect the two capitals. The project will build a submarine "transportation line" through the Baltic Sea, and realize the connection between Northern Europe and Central Europe. This undersea "transportation line" also reserves "connection points" in some areas of Lithuania and Latvia, which can become a key undersea transportation line for transferring military equipment in wartime.

It is worth noting that the three Baltic countries are the main bases of NATO's land combat clusters at present, and Germany has just announced the completion of its plan to project ground forces to the region.

The preparation for the establishment of the Nordic Army Command in Finland and the construction of the defense "puzzle" between North and Central Europe will speed up the new deployment of NATO's land forces, which is also a microcosm of NATO's accelerated expansion in recent times.

Self perceived security anxiety in Europe

Foreign media pointed out that this year, 18 of the 32 NATO member countries accounted for more than 2% of their annual defense expenditure GDP, and the defense expenditure of the Nordic countries generally doubled. Recently, many European countries have promoted the base preparation and budget increase, and Finland, Poland, Romania and other countries have stepped up the bundling with NATO "combat vehicles", which to some extent reflects the growing security anxiety of these countries.

However, the promotion of arms expansion by European countries under the framework of NATO may weaken the quality and effectiveness of European independent defense. Some French media expressed concern about this, saying that 23 of the 27 EU member countries have joined NATO. Faced with limited military strength and military resources, Europe may gradually become a security vassal and arms follower of the US led NATO.

In addition, Finland and other traditional neutral countries have also caused protests and opposition in their countries. While increasing defense spending, the Finnish government is reducing investment in other areas. Since April, there have been many strikes and anti war rallies in Finland. In the process of accelerating its integration into NATO, Finland and many other European countries are facing considerable pressure from home and abroad. (Liu Leina)

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