NATO's Northern Europe Headquarters to be Established in Mikkeli, Finland's Former Military Command City

According to recent information, NATO's Northern Europe Command will be established in Mikkeli, Finland. The decision is based on an overall assessment of what is the best location for Finland's defense. No other reasons are involved.

At the same time, Finland sent, according to Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen (National Coalition Party), "a message to Russia that we are a full-fledged member of NATO, and NATO plays a very strong role in Finland's defense." He further stated that "this is not in any way a hostile action or a confrontation, but purely based on Finland's defense arrangements."

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Mikkeli is an important city for Finland with about 50,000 inhabitants. This is because it served as the headquarters of the Finnish Defense Forces during the Winter War, the Continuation War, and the Lapland War. 

In the first of these, the Finnish army repelled the Soviet Union's attack, which was politically supported by Germany, on its own without any allies. Although Britain and France made strong promises of support, it ultimately amounted to little more than a few material deliveries.

In the Continuation War, too, the Soviet Union initiated military actions five days before Finland launched its own offensive as part of Germany's Operation Barbarossa, quickly capturing large areas of East Karelia. In 1944, the Red Army launched a major offensive, which after initial success was halted on the Soviet side of the pre-war border. Peace was subsequently made at the current borders.

Before the end of the World War II, Finland still fought a third war, during which it expelled the German troops stationed in northern Finland. In this war, the Germans retaliated against the Finns by burning practically all homes of the inhabitants in Lapland. As a result, the people of northern Finland still hated the Germans in the 1970s, until the income brought by tourism helped the resentment subside.

After these historical memories, I express the hope that Mikkeli will never again have to lead a war between Finland and Russia, and that NATO's mere presence in Finland will be enough to deter any potential imperialist ambitions of Vladimir Putin and his successors.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finland Must Avoid Ukraine’s Fate
Rediscovered Relics: The Story Behind Finland's WWII Weapon Caches
Finns Feel Sympathy for Ukrainians Because They Share a Similar Experience