The Finnish Air Force will participate in NATO air defence in Bulgaria, Romania and the Black Sea, Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said in a press release.
Next year, Finland will participate in the so-called NATO peacetime missions with one naval ship and a maximum of eight F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets of the air force.
"The active participation of allies in NATO's joint peacetime defence tasks is a signal of unity and strengthens deterrence," Häkkanen told Finnish media.
"Participation should be seen as part of the normal operation of an allied state, where military resources are used to deter and protect the alliance. We bear our own responsibility for common defense and deterrence throughout the alliance area."
The State Council will submit a report on Finland's participation in NATO's joint defence tasks in peacetime to Parliament in February.
The tasks include air surveillance and armed patrol flights under the direction of NATO's integrated air and missile defence, the defence ministry said. /BGNES
