Finland participated this Thursday in the first joint NATO military exercise since it became a member of the organization, with its navy accompanied by a Portuguese and a German ship, off the coast of Helsinki.
“This is the first time that Finland and the coastal fleet have conducted an exercise since Finland joined NATO,” the Finnish navy said in a statement.
The two frigates that accompanied the exercise, the German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias, symbolically docked in the port of Helsinki, where they will call until Sunday.
Before reaching port, the frigates participated in an exercise organized by the Finnish Coastal Fleet near Russia together with three Finnish ships.
The Nordic country officially joined NATO on April 4, after decades of neutrality and military non-alignment, adding 1,340 kilometers of border between the alliance and Russia.
Finland contributes significant military resources to NATO through its huge military reserves.
Joint training with NATO forces already took place before the country’s entry, and Finland is part of the “Partnership for Peace” project promoted by the alliance.
The country had announced its candidacy for NATO in May 2022, as a direct consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Source: TSF
