Finland offered NATO to place the headquarters of the Northern Command of the alliance’s land forces (Multi Corps Land Component Command – MCLCC) in the city of Mikkeli, the Minister of Defense of the country, Antti Gäkkiänen, said on Friday.
In this city, located 105 km from the border with the Leningrad region, the headquarters of the command of the ground forces of Finland is located.
“The establishment of the MCLCC headquarters in Finland is an important step on the way to further strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defense posture. The Finnish Ground Forces Command in Mikkeli was the obvious choice to host the NATO command. By combining these two places, we get the best possible synergy between the coordination of our national defense and the coordination of NATO’s defense capabilities,” the minister said.
According to him, the NATO command will plan, prepare and manage the actions of NATO ground forces in Northern Europe. Under normal circumstances, the MCLCC will be responsible for NATO training in the area, and in a crisis situation will lead the operations of NATO ground forces.
The command will consist of personnel from allied countries and the Finnish defense forces. Planning and implementation will be carried out in stages, a more specific schedule will be announced in 2025, the Finnish Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
At a meeting in June, NATO defense ministers expressed political support for the establishment of the Multinational Land Forces Command and the presence of the Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Finland. The proposals were approved at the NATO summit in July. NATO will make policy decisions on the specifics of the MCLCC and FLF presence next year.
