Fri, 05 Sep, 2014 12:06:30 AM Finland signs host nation support agreement FTimes-STT Report, Sept 5  France's President Francois Hollande (R) speaks with his Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius before the start of a meeting on Afghanistan during the NATO 2014 summit at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport, South Wales, on September 4, 2014. The NATO summit billed as the most important since the Cold War got underway with calls to stand up to Russia over Ukraine and confront Islamic State extremists. Photo – AFP / Lehtikuva. Finland has signed the so-called host nation support agreement at a NATO summit in Wales.
The document was signed by Major Jarmo Lindberg, the country’s chief of defence forces.
Sweden also signed the agreement at the same event.
According to critics, the timing for the signing of the agreement is bad.
According to the government, the signing of the long-prepared agreement amid the Ukrainian crisis has been a coincidence.
Towards the end of last month, it was reported that Finland was considering signing an agreement with NATO in order to strengthen cooperation, which would possibly mean easier entry of NATO troops into Finnish territory.
The new framework in discussion could allow NATO forces to use Swedish land, airspace and maritime territory en route to operations and Sweden would guarantee the troops’ logistic and support operations, said Finnish national broadcaster Yle.
Meanwhile, President Sauli Niinistö has expressed the hope that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s assessment that there is a possibility of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine does materialise.
President Niinistö, who is attending the NATO summit in Ukraine, said putting an end to the loss of people’s lives is a pre-requisite.
The president admitted that the situation in Ukraine is difficult to predict. He reminded that there still are a number of considerable difficulties, even if ceasefire is achieved early.
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