Additional Finnish forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan before election runoff

Finnish political leaders contradict each other on pullout

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Although a second round in Afghanistan’s Presidential election was announced on Tuesday, the additional Finnish crisis management forces, which were deployed to help monitor the first round, are to be withdrawn before the runoff.
      In the second round, incumbent President Hamid Karzai will face his opponent Abdullah Abdullah.
     
Finnish Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) said on Tuesday that the Finnish forces that are coming home will be replaced by Swedish peacekeepers.
      “Finland, Sweden, and NATO have agreed that the Finns will come back at the turn of the month, as Sweden brings in more forces”, Häkämies said.
     The Finnish forces are part of the NATO-led ISAF force. The unit operates in an area under Swedish command in Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan.
     Häkämies emphasised that security will not be compromised by the Finnish withdrawal, as the Finns will be replaced by about the same number of Swedish soldiers.
     He said that the withdrawals were made necessary by the expiration of the soldiers’ current contracts; there was little interest among the forces in extending the contract.
     
Brigadier General Veli-Pekka Parkatti said on Tuesday evening that the military did not want to compel the soldiers to extend their deployment past the election runoff. The current enlistment contracts expire at the end of October.
      “We have the view that the peacekeepers, or at least most of them, want out. They have been in very tough duties for four months”, Parkatti says.
      The Finnish forces have been under fire on a number of occasions.
      Finland has a basic force of about 115 soldiers in Afghanistan, and 85 more were deployed for the elections.
     
Last week Finland’s political leaders indicated that a significant number of the forces would stay in Afghanistan to help secure the second round of the Presidential vote on November 7th.
      Both Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) and the President’s Chief of Staff Päivi Kairamo-Hella said on Friday that the additional forces would remain in Afghanistan past the election day. Stubb said that the forces might have stayed in the country until the end of November.
      Helsingin Sanomat was not able to reach Stubb on Tuesday for a comment on the withdrawal.
     
News of the return of the Finnish forces to Finland came as a surprise to President Tarja Halonen. Still on Tuesday, during a visit to Egypt, Halonen said that the additional Finnish troops would stay in Afghanistan past the new elections.
      However, she emphasised that she had not discussed the matter with Defence Minister Häkämies.
     
Initial results of the Afghan Presidential elections indicated that incumbent Karzai had won an outright majority. However, investigations into allegations of vote rigging changed the situation.
      The election commission concluded that Karzai fell below the 50 per cent needed for direct election in the elections held on August 20th, and that a second round should be held.
      Karzai, who had been under pressure from both the United States and Europe, said in a televised press conference in Kabul that he would accept the decision on new elections.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Younger Finns most eager supporters of Finnish peace-keeping operation in Afghanistan (30.9.2009)
  Foreign Minister Stubb: Finland must support Afghanistan on road to peace (18.8.2009)
  Attack on Finns in Afghanistan leads to rethink of safety precautions (6.10.2009)
  "Amber light is on" for future of Finland’s ISAF presence in Afghanistan (2.10.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat