Sweden makes decisions on Afghanistan commitment more quickly than Finland

Defence Minister Häkämies visited Afghanistan on Independence Day

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Sweden makes decisions about its participation in the international military operation in Afghanistan at a fairly quick pace. At the same time, Finland’s political leaders vacillate even over their old decisions.
      One reason why decisions come slowly in Finland is that the Finns want to wait to see what Sweden plans to do in the near future. Sweden is planning extensive changes in 2011 in the operations of the joint military unit that the two countries have in Afghanistan.
     
The explanations put forward by Finland have come as something of a surprise to Sweden.
      “We do not have much to say about 2011. We make our plans for a few years at a time”, Roger Mangergård, spokesman for the Swedish Defence Forces said to Helsingin Sanomat.
      Neither Finland nor Sweden have responded to a request by the NATO Secretary-General from two weeks back, for additional forces to Afghanistan. However, Mangergård points out that Sweden has already upgraded its forces.
     
Next year Sweden will have 500 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, and the number can temporarily go as high as 800.
      Sweden plans to send 40-50 military trainers to Afghanistan. They are to accompany Afghan battalions even on combat missions, says Mikael Östlund, spokesman to the Swedish Defence Minister. In Finland, only a few trainers have been found for duty in Afghanistan.
      The difficulty in finding competent trainers in Finland has been explained by the fact that they are all volunteers. However, the Swedes are also volunteers.
      The Swedish military also has nothing to say about a report from the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Friday, according to which one of the four provinces in Afghanistan where the Finnish-Swedish unit operates would be the responsibility of the Finns. Magnergård has heard nothing about any such report.
     
Planning for the operations of the Finnish crisis management forces in Afghanistan takes place at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Timo Kantola, the head of the security policy and crisis management unit at the ministry, points out that such planning takes place constantly among participating countries.
      “One possibility after such investigation could be that Finland might consider concentrating on one area more strongly than now. No actual request to this effect has been seen”, he says. The matter will be handled on Wednesday at the government’s foreign and security policy committee.
      However, Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies (Nat. Coalition Party) does not expect any major decisions to come from the committee’s Wednesday meeting.
      On Monday evening, Häkämies returned from Afghanistan, where he had spent the weekend. During his visit, he learned about the lives of Finnish crisis management soldiers, and spent Independence Day with the Finnish forces.
      Häkämies said that visits to the field are “extremely important”, although he was criticised for the secretive nature of the trip, and its timing, which meant that he could not take part in the President’s Independence Day reception. Häkämies noted that the visit had been set already in July.
      “The matter was not reported for security reasons. This is done with the ministers of all countries, when they visit Afghanistan.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Government ponders Afghanistan confusion (28.10.2009)
  Finland repeats old Afghanistan promises at foreign ministers´ meeting (7.12.2009)
  Defence Minister Häkämies lashes out at President over hiding NATO letter (4.12.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat