In June 2024, NATO Defence Ministers gave their political approval for the establishment of a NATO army command (Multi Corps Land Component Command, MCLCC) and the presence of Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Finland. The package was confirmed at the NATO summit in Lithuania in July 2024.

The Finnish Ministry of Defence proposes the establishment of the MCLCC in the city of Mikkeli, where the Finnish Army Headquarters is situated. NATO has launched more detailed military-level planning work for the leadership, and Finland is closely involved in it. The final decisions on the headquarters and its location will be made at the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting in 2025.

NATO’s MCLCC headquarters can lead several army corps. In a situation where Finland would receive allied reinforcement from other NATO countries, the MCLCC headquarters would also be strengthened by NATO’s LANDCOM headquarters (https://lc.nato.int/).

The task of NATO’s Ground Command in Mikkeli is to plan, prepare and lead the operations of NATO’s Army in Northern Europe. It operates under the Joint Force Command Norfolk (https://jfcnorfolk.nato.int/) in Norfolk, USA. The new Army Command will be responsible for, among other things, NATO’s exercises and other peacetime activities. In times of crisis, the Headquarters would lead NATO’s ground force operations in the Nordic region. The leadership will include personnel from both NATO allies and the Finnish Defence Forces. The planning and implementation of the management level will proceed in stages. The schedule will be specified in 2025.

Sources:

• Finnish Ministry of Defence press release on 27 September 2024 (link).
• Press conference of the Minister of Defence and the Commander of the Finnish Army on September 27 2024 (link, in Finnish).