Finland’s Controversial Push To Be NATO’s New HQ

NATO’s newest member, spurred on by its neighbour’s invasion of Ukraine, is considering a bid to become the northern headquarters for the military alliance.

A report on Monday, July 17, from BNN, focuses on 62-year-old Pekka Toveri, a Finnish member of Parliament, who argues the case for NATO’s northern base to be in Finland.

Finland: NATO’s Newest Member

Finland became a NATO member in April 2023, bringing the total membership to an impressive 31 countries.

Toveri, a former intelligence chief with a long military background spanning 35 years is an outspoken member of Finland’s Parliament. While he criticises Sweden’s commitment and low defence budget, also claims that his country would be the best choice for a new NATO headquarters.

He states that the move would boost Finland’s security and influence within the Alliance. However, his proposal is not without its critics.

There are some that are opposed to the idea and have said that such a move could further goad Russia into an even more aggressive stance and ruin Finland’s long-standing neutrality.

Other experts have also criticised the plan with their argument in which they claim that Finland does not possess the correct infrastructure, political support and strategic rationale that hosting a NATO headquarters would require.

Toveri, whose wife is from Florida and a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, currently hosts the parliamentary defence committee. He puts forward a strong case, reinforcing Finland’s reputation as a security builder. Not to mention its air defence systems, cyber defence capabilities and intelligence assets, which are said to be superior to other Nordic countries.

Against Finland’s NATO HQ

Other experts however argue that the move could be costly, from a financial, political and security point of view.

Currently, Finland’s existing military bases could not accommodate a NATO headquarters, something which would need significant financial investment. And on the domestic scene, many Finns are sceptical about their newly awarded NATO membership, and its implications for Finland’s relations with Russia.

Whether NATO’s other member nations will take up the idea remains to be seen, perhaps because of their own ambitions or the fear that its location so close to Russia may just be another sharp stick poked in the eye of the Russian Bear.