JEF countries sign deal in Helsinki guiding military activities

The Defence Ministers of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) countries signed a political steering document guiding military activities.

The deal was signed during the two-day meeting of the Defence Ministers of JEF countries concluded in Helsinki on Thursday, said the Ministry of Defence in a press release.

The signing of the document complemented the JEF Memorandum of Understanding adopted in 2018.

In addition, ministers held scenario-based discussions on the decision-making mechanisms and conditions for cooperation in the JEF countries.

The ministers met for the first time since 2019, as a joint meeting could not be held last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland regards ministerial meetings as very useful and is in favour of annually organised meetings.

Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen said that through organising the JEF meeting directly after Finland hosted a NORDEFCO meeting of Nordic defence ministers, Finland demonstrated how different defence cooperation arrangements support and complement each other.

One of the main forms of activities is joint exercises and operations in the partner countries. The cooperation framework for JEF activities can be used to support, for example, the operations of the UN, NATO or the EU.

For each task and situation, an especially formed task force will be formed, and each partner country will decide independently on participation in line with its national legislation.

The UK-led JEF is a multilateral framework for defence cooperation formed by ten countries. The countries are: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Finland joined the JEF in summer 2017 at the same time as Sweden. The most recent expansion took place in April this year when Iceland joined.

Through their cooperation, the JEF partner countries aim to develop military capabilities, prevent various crises and, if necessary, act together in crisis situations. The main operating environment is Northern Europe.