Finland is preparing to send troops into Afghanistan to protect Finnish citizens and help evacuate them out of the country, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) confirmed at a press conference on Thursday evening.
"The government met today and decided that a Defence Forces team is required in Kabul, that is, a force to protect Finnish workers, our own team, on the ground and if possible to help with evacuations from inside Kabul airport," Haavisto said.
Several other countries have also sent military units to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of their citizens.
The foreign ministry is in contact with around 60 Finnish citizens who are still in Kabul but have not been able to get to the airport. Some 34 Finnish citizens have already been evacuated.
The force will include dozens of armed soldiers and will only operate at Kabul International Airport and its immediate vicinity, the foreign minister added, with orders to ensure evacuees board flights out of the country.
This week's episode of the All Points North podcast looked into the departure of western countries from Afghanistan as the capital Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban.
You can listen to the full podcast using the embedded player here, via Yle Areena, Spotify or Apple Podcasts or on your usual podcast player using the RSS feed. Article continues after audio.
"It has become clear that the help of the Defence Forces is needed to ensure safe evacuation," Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) said at the briefing.
The measure utilises a law on granting and requesting international assistance, which requires the government to report to Parliament.
Haavisto said the decision to send in troops was made at the government session on Thursday, and Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee will meet on Friday morning to discuss the proposal before the matter is debated and voted on at a plenary session on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday the committee had met to discuss the already announced evacuation plans, which exclude security guards who protected Finnish diplomats and politicians in Kabul.
Haavisto said afterwards that the matter had been discussed, but Finnish citizens and directly-employed staff were the current priority, and officials had their hands full with them. He also said Finland did not want to make promises it could not keep.