HELSINKI, Finland: The Finland-Israel defence pact covering military research, development and procurement has been extended for 10 years through 2034, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported Saturday.
The memorandum was first drawn up in 2013 and was approaching expiry. Finland proposed extending the arrangement in early 2024, with the new term doubling previous five-year renewal periods.
Yle published its report, Finland time, saying Finland’s Ministry of Defence had not publicly announced the renewed memorandum.
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen approved the arrangement and described such agreements as normal between countries engaged in defence procurement. He said Finland maintains similar cooperation documents with about 40 countries.
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The memorandum also created a joint coordination group that must meet at least once each year. Olli Ruutu, director of the Finnish Defence Ministry’s resource policy department, represents Finland in the group.
Finland previously agreed to buy Israel’s David’s Sling air-defence system in a deal worth more than €300 million. Häkkänen said the memorandum supports implementation of existing air-defence purchases and other procurement cooperation.
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Separately, Yle cited an Israeli Defence Ministry representative as describing Finland as Israel’s gateway to NATO and European defence markets. Finland became a full NATO member in 2023
