Three Nordic NATO countries to create a corridor to facilitate troop movement
21 June, 2024 Armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Sweden. Photo credits: Antonia Sehlstedt/Forsvarsmakten Norway, Finland, and Sweden have agreed to create a cross-border military transport corridor to facilitate the transfer of military equipment and personnel between the countries.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store announced this. The decision was made by Store, along with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, during a two-day meeting in Bodo, northern Norway. This decision is a response to the potential need to deploy armed forces across interstate borders.
"Today [June 20] we agreed to create a military transport corridor through northern Norway, northern Sweden and northern Finland. This will allow us to quickly move personnel and equipment from Norwegian ports through Sweden to Finland," the Norwegian Prime Minister said.
Norwegian military. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Norway
The defense ministers of the three countries have been instructed to work on the corridor in cooperation with civilian actors.
XA-180 armored personnel carrier of the Finnish Army. Photo credits: maquetland.com
Together, they will identify bottlenecks, update the necessary regulations and legislation, and invest in the necessary infrastructure. Store emphasized that all three Nordic countries were NATO members, which "contributes to the security of Norway, the Nordic countries and the Allies."
A week ago, a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Gotland.
A Russian Su-24 violated Swedish airspace. June 14, 2024. Photo credits: Swedish Armed Forces
The airspace violation incident took place on June 14.
This was the first incident since Sweden joined NATO in March of this year. Sweden raised its JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft to intercept the violator.
Also this week, it became known that Russia has moved most of its military and equipment to Ukraine, which had been concentrated on the border with Finland.
Satellite imagery shows that the garrisons and military bases of the Russian Ground Forces near the Finnish border are virtually empty.