Finland is expected to make a decision on participation in a NATO Rapid Response Force. The matter is being considered by the President and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy. The government is expected to take part in the force since the largest parties support the project.
However President Halonen has expressed doubt that Finland has sufficient resources to participate. The government parties do not consider that this is a problem.
In an interview on YLE's Aamu-TV morning programme, Chairman of the Foreign and Security Policy Committee Pertti Salolainen said he does not believe that the costs of participation are out of reach.
"It seems that the costs are not overwheliming. Two percent of our entire defense force budget is devoted to international operations, and this would also benefit our national defenses," he added.
Jaakko Laakso, a member of the Defense Committee said that the costs are difficult to estimate because government has no detailed information about the operation.
"The question of participation is in practice still open because of the cost factor. We don't know what kind of operation is involved or how Finland will participate," he explained.
Chairman of the Defense Committee Juha Korkeaoja said that participation in the operation should be decided based on the merits of the situation.
"In my opinion that we should go along as a first option. In other words, we should sign up for it, then depending on the situation, we can later decide whether or not we will actually actively participate in the operation," he declared.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a technologically advanced crack force comprising land, air, sea and special forces that can be quickly deployed wherever needed.
YLE