Defense Post
January 25, 2023

Finland Approves Military Sales to Turkey Amid NATO Row

Finland’s defense ministry said Wednesday the country had issued the first commercial export license for military material to Turkey since 2019 – a key demand for Ankara to approve Helsinki’s NATO bid.

Riikka Pitkanen, special adviser at the ministry, told AFP that the export license granted concerned steel that would be used for armor.

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The resumption of military exports was one of the conditions set by Ankara to give the green light for the Finnish and Swedish NATO bids, which are currently stalled.

In late September, Swedish authorities lifted a ban on military exports to Turkey.

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Yle
January 25, 2023

Finland onboard with Ukraine battle tank aid effort, but unclear to what extent

Finland will participate in the combined international effort to supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, Interim Minister of Defence Mikko Savola (Centre) said on Wednesday.

“We are preparing this together with the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF),” Savola said. However, Finland’s contribution will not be very big, the defence minister pointed out at a press briefing in Helsinki.

According to Savola, Finland has not yet decided how it will participate in the Leopard 2 project.

Earlier on Wednesday, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pekka Haavisto (Green), said that Finland would be willing to cooperate with other countries in sending Leopard 2’s to Ukraine “in some way”.