Finland and United Kingdom set to deepen defence ties with new JEF agreement
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a UK-led military partnership which includes the Nordic nations, the Baltic states as well as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Finland will deepen its cooperation with the United Kingdom and other members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) with the proposed signing of a defence agreement later this year.
The cooperation was confirmed by General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the UK’s Naval Staff, in an interview with tabloid Iltalehti published on Monday.
When asked by Iltalehti if the UK’s nuclear capabilities would form the "ultimate backbone deterrence" for JEF forces, Jenkins replied:
"Absolutely ... because all the JEF nations are part of Nato. Our nuclear deterrent is dedicated to NATO as well as to our own sovereign protection. So, by definition, yes."
The UK embassy in Helsinki later clarified to Yle News that Jenkins’ statement was based "on the fact that JEF nations are Nato members and therefore operate within Nato’s wider deterrence framework".
Yle understands that JEF member countries — which include the Nordic and Baltic states, the UK and the Netherlands — will sign an agreement at a meeting in Oslo in November.
"Their naval commander [referring to Gwyn Jenkins] has highlighted Britain’s strong commitment to JEF cooperation, and through that these new opportunities have also been created," MP Heikki Autto (NCP), chair of parliament’s defence committee, told Iltalehti.
The deal would not mean a separate nuclear umbrella outside of Nato’s extended deterrence strategy offered by the US, UK and France to all non-nuclear member states within the alliance.
"This is what Nato is all about; this is what the JEF is all about as a distinct organization in its own right in support of Nato. This is why I’m here, to demonstrate our support for Finland. This is why, for instance, the UK’s nuclear deterrent is dedicated to NATO. It’s why Finland sits underneath the umbrella of nuclear protection that is provided by our submarines that are on patrol in the Atlantic right now," Jenkins said in the interview with Iltalehti.
Finland joined a French-led nuclear deterrence initiative earlier this month, and that agreement also does not include a separate nuclear umbrella.
In a press release on Tuesday morning, the Finnish defence ministry announced that Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) will attend a meeting with his JEF counterparts in Reykjavík on 1–2 October.
"We have a very important meeting ahead of us," Häkkänen said. "JEF is a multilateral defence cooperation framework of great importance for Finland, and its role is highlighted by the current security situation."
World Affairs Correspondent
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