JEF summit likely to disrupt traffic in Helsinki centre on Thursday

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) JEF Leaders' Summit scheduled to be held in Helsinki on March 26 may disrupt vehicular movement in Helsinki city centre area, said police on Monday.

The summit and the movement of guests may cause temporary traffic closures and special traffic arrangements in Helsinki city centre, said police in a press release, adding that the police will direct traffic as necessary.

A temporary restricted airspace has been established over Helsinki city centre. The restriction is in force on Wednesday from 16:00 to 23:00, and on Thursday from 08:00 to 23:00.

The restriction applies to both manned and unmanned aviation, including drones.

The restricted airspace has been established to ensure the safety of the summit and of official aviation operations.

The restriction, however, does not apply to authorities whose statutory duties require them to operate within the area.

President Alexander Stubb will host the summit at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.

The summit will be attended by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Siliņa, Prime Minister of Estonia Kristen Michal, Prime Minister of Iceland Kristrún Frostadóttir and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten.

Representation of the Kingdom of Denmark will be announced at a later date. Besides the JEF leaders, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney will participate in the meeting remotely.

The discussions at the Presidential Palace will be held in three sessions, focusing among other things on the support provided by the JEF nations to Ukraine and on the general security situation in Europe.

During the day, the heads of state and government of the JEF countries will visit a Finnish Border Guard offshore patrol vessel for a briefing on the Border Guard’s maritime operations.

The vessel can be used year-round and in all conditions in the Baltic Sea for maintenance of border security, search and rescue operations, oil-spill response at sea and surveillance of territorial waters.

The JEF is a multilateral framework for defence cooperation led by the United Kingdom.

The objective is to develop the military capabilities of the participating countries through joint exercises, to prevent crises and, if necessary, to operate together in crisis situations.

JEF’s main operating environment is Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region.