The president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, communicated this Friday a reinforcement of cooperation with Sweden to safeguard Finnish territorial integrity. This is a new step to jointly address security in northern Europe, after both countries joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively, following their application for membership due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"Cooperation in defense between Finland and Sweden takes a new step forward today. Finland and Sweden are jointly strengthening the surveillance and protection of Finland's territorial integrity," Stubb pointed out in a message on social media, in which he celebrates this progress to improve detection and response capabilities against drones.
"The Nordic region forms a unified entity. We trust each other, and together we are stronger. Cooperation also supports NATO's deterrence and defense," insisted the Finnish leader, emphasizing the allied dimension of this initiative.
The announcement comes after a summer marked by drone incursions on NATO's eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to Romania. In this context, the Atlantic Alliance agreed at the last leaders' summit held in Ankara to allocate more than 40 billion dollars (37 billion euros) over the next five years to improve its anti-drone capabilities.
In the face of a scenario in which drones have profoundly changed the type of risk that European states face, NATO has set as a goal to multiply by five the number of trained drone operators by the end of 2027.
Deployment of Swedish fighters and corvettes to Finland
In this framework, Swedish authorities have specified that the plan includes the deployment in Finland of several "JAS 39 Gripen" fighters from their Air Force, as well as a "Visby" class corvette, in order to reinforce the country's security in light of the incidents recorded in the area.
"Sweden will participate in the missions of surveillance and protection of Finland's territorial integrity with its fighters and with a 'Visby' class corvette from the Navy in the Baltic Sea region," the Swedish Army explained in an official note, specifying that this mission will last at least until the end of the year.
In the statement, the Swedish Armed Forces remind that the country "has previously provided similar support to Denmark in the form of anti-drone capabilities" and that it has also collaborated in the surveillance of the airspace of Poland and Iceland.
"Recently, the airspace of the alliance has been violated by drones on a large scale. The airspace of Finland, Romania, Poland, and the Baltic countries has been breached by drones. Just in August, more than 20 violations of Romanian airspace by drones were recorded," the Swedish Armed Forces have emphasized, alerting to the magnitude of the problem.
For this reason, they emphasize that the cooperation between Sweden and Finland has a broad character and that it is now being "deepened" even further. "Finland's cause is ours, not only in words but also in action. Its border with Russia is also our border for the defense of the Nordic region, of Europe, and of NATO. We are now strengthening our joint capacity to protect allied territory," stated Vice Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, head of the Operations Command of the Swedish Armed Forces.