The Finnish government is happy for Sweden to lead the establishment of NATO land forces in Finland to boost defences against neighbouring Russia, the two Nordic countries said on Monday.

On Monday, Sweden announced its readiness to manage a future NATO land force in neighboring Finland, which shares a border with Russia. The two Nordic nations, having dropped decades of military non-alignment, applied for NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Sweden should lead the establishment of an enhanced NATO presence in Finland in the form of so-called forward land forces (FLF), the two countries proposed on Monday. "The Swedish government has the ambition to take on a role as framework nation for forward land forces in Finland,