[Russia] - Finland to Place NATO Base Near Russian Border

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Finland will place a key NATO base less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from its eastern border with Russia, a move that Helsinki says will
"send a message" to Moscow, the Finnish Defense Ministry said Friday.Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia,
became a NATO member last year, dropping decades of military non-alignment after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Defense Minister
Antti Hakkanen said NATO's new headquarters for the Northern European land command unit will be in the city of Mikkeli, located in
future base."By combining the locations, we achieve the best possible synergy between national defense management and NATO defense
management," Hakkanen said.The military alliance's Multi Corps Land Component Command will operate under NATO's Norfolk command in the
United States, which oversees the Atlantic and Arctic regions.Hakkanen said the headquarters would be staffed by a few dozen people from
different NATO countries.In June, NATO defense ministers gave the green light for Finland to host the Multi Corps Land Component Command as