Puolustusyhteistyö: epävarmuus mahdollisuutena
Abstrakti
Since 2010 the significance of defence cooperation has increased in Europe and especially so in the non-aligned Finland. Versatile and intense defence cooperation seems to be what Finland wishes for. The concept, however, is somewhat ambiguous. This article analyses the scope of defence cooperation as well as its economic and security policy benefits for Finland. It also takes a look from a Finnish perspective into three recent initiatives: Framework Nations Concept of Germany, Joint Expeditionary Force of UK and the European Intervention Initiative of France. Through these initiatives, non-aligned nations may position themselves as partners of major powers in a pragmatic and low-key manner.
Based on Finnish experience, material benefits and savings of defence cooperation are hard to measure, but in the authors’ view, they are minor in comparison to its security policy implications. While defence cooperation does not give security guarantees for Finland, it can be viewed as an opportunity for military aid in a conflict, thereby raising the threshold for a potential hostile actor.
