2023
Finland signed agreements in Brussels on 15 February 2023
Minister of Defence Mikko Savola signed four agreements in Brussels on Wednesday 15 February 2023, one of which is the Letter of Intent on NATO’s APSS initiative and the other three are international project agreements. The agreements are not legally binding.
- NATO has a large number of multinational projects, and Finland participates in those that are essential for our national interests, says Minister of Defence Mikko Savola.
Initiative on satellite imaging intelligence and surveillance
Together with 17 other countries, Finland signed a Letter of Intent on NATO's Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS). The aim of this initiative is to improve the capacity for satellite imaging by utilising the existing resources of the member countries.
International initiative on virtual storage of munitions
On Wednesday 15 February, Finland also signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Multinational Cooperation for Ammunition Warehousing Initiatives (MAWI). The key objective of this initiative is to examine the framework for international joint storage of ammunitions and related decision-making mechanisms, the exchange of information and technical regulations to be applied. To date, Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden have joined the initiative.
Military mobility projects
Minister Savola signed two projects related to military mobility. The purpose of the Cooperation on Developing Countermobility Capabilities is to examine the development of counter-mobility measures while the Cooperation on Delivering Gap Crossing Capabilities aims at improving the verification of gap crossing. Both project-related Letters of Intent support the development of military pioneers. In addition to Finland, the Letters of Intent have been signed by Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- The projects signed today are practical and cost-effective. We will begin to explore opportunities for cooperation in these areas, says Minister of Defence Savola.
Inquiries: Antti Korpi, Deputy Security Director (Ministry of Defence) about the agreements, tel. +358 295 140 231, and Laura Sinisalo, Senior Specialist, about other projects, tel. +358 295 140 081.