Page:The Effects of Finland's Possible NATO Membership - An Assessment.pdf/42

 Finland has already participated in military operations abroad, including in NATO and EU formats: with, in the past, up to 800 troops in KFOR Kosovo, a construction battalion in IFOR and SFOR Bosnia, and a company-sized commitment in the German sector of ISAF Afghanistan. No less importantly, it is also a force contributor to NATO’s Response Force (NRF), an excellent school for developing interoperability.

In the event that Article 5 entered into play in defence of the Baltic States, only the major powers could provide heavy military muscle: Finland’s contribution would in all cases be militarily limited. NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) may play an important role in case of an Article 5 crisis in the Baltic States. Finland as a possible NATO member could aim at providing a limited but cutting-edge contribution to that unit along with its existing participation in the NRF. The VJTF in totto is planned to encompass some 5,000 soldiers from the overall NATO family. Overall, however, NATO membership should not lead Finland to develop its expeditionary component substantially.

INFRASTRUCTURE. Finland’s defence infrastructure is close to NATO standards (see above) and could be plugged into integrated NATO without substantial difficulty if the basic mission is the defence of Finland. The most significant move would be the integration of Finland’s air surveillance and management networks with NATO’s Air Command and Control System (see chapter III, section 2).

If Sweden stays out of NATO, Finland would presumably be invited by NATO to also make its logistical infrastructure fit for use by NATO reinforcements to the Baltic States. The implications this would have from the Finnish standpoint would require a specific technical evaluation by Finland’s MoD in concert with NATO.

NUCLEAR ISSUES. The assessors assume that Finland-in-NATO would not request the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory, nor that Finland would acquire combat aircraft on the basis of their ability to deliver nuclear weapons. However, Finland would have to decide whether it would join NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group. For the time being, this is the case for 27 out of 28 members (only nuclear-armed France withholds its participation). Belonging to the NPG provides participant states with information on NATO’s nuclear doctrine and planning but does not imply participation in nuclear missions per se. Even NATO countries such as Denmark, 42