Closure of the military integration process of Finland’s NATO membership

The military integration process of Finland’s NATO membership will be closed by a joint decision and signing of a declaration by the Finnish Defence Forces and the NATO Allied Command Transformation. The signing ceremony will be held in Helsinki on Monday 12 June 2023. For the occasion, the NATO flag will be raised at Finnish Defence Forces locations.

The activities of the Finnish Defence Forces have been integrated with NATO since July 2022 as part of the military integration process. The primary objective of the process has been to facilitate the integration of the Finnish Defence Forces with NATO, allowing its participation in NATO operations on par with the armed forces of other member states. During the process, the Finnish Defence Forces has received information from NATO about its operations and support in preparing for participation. 

Military integration with NATO has proceeded as planned, and integration has been comprehensively implemented in the Defence Forces’ different functional areas, for example in the following: increasing the number of personnel, joint operational planning and defence planning, training and increasing know-how involving NATO. Even if the formal phase comes to a close, military integration will continue for years after the completion of the process.

The military integration process will be brought to an end by the signing of a declaration in Helsinki on 12 June 2023. The signing ceremony will be held in the Presidential Palace hosted by the President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö.  The declaration will be signed by Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, General Timo Kivinen and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Philippe Lavigne.