The reopening of Russia’s Alakurtti base in the Murmansk region – 60 km from the border – poses no threat to Finland, one military expert insists. The move is believed to be a sign of Russia’s expanding engagement in the Arctic, with the base manned by radioelectronics personnel, according to Russian military sources.
The website Barents Observer reports that Russia is intending to re-establish the Alakurtti military base from September this year. The base currently only houses a border guard unit after it was shut down in 2009, but Russian military sources say a garrison of 3,000 radioelectronics experts will be stationed there from late 2014.
The new deployment at the base, which is 60 kilometres from the Finnish border, has raised concerns among locals in Lapland. However, military experts insist the move poses no threat to Finland.
“This has nothing to do with Finland or Finnish security. Alakurtti is primarily a training and support base for operations in the north,” Lieutenant Colonel Pentti Forsström, from Finland’s National Defence University, said. (more)
Read the whole story: http://yle.fi/uutiset/russia_to_move_3000_soldiers_to_finnish_border/7140350
Source: YLE