<a “Defence Ministers of the Nordic countries will be meeting in Helsinki this coming Tuesday and Wednesday for talks on tighter defence cooperation.
Earlier this year, a report drawn up by a group headed by former Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg proposed that the the Nordic countries jointly take responsibility for Icelandic airspace once the United States closes its base at Keflavik, Iceland.
According to Finnish Defense Minister Jyri Häkämies, participation in such an arrangement would be too expensive for Finland.
‘This is primarily a matter of the supervision of the airspace of a NATO country, so it is also a political question. And it would not be free. The air force’s budget has just been balanced, and the first order of business is not to send planes off somewhere,’ Häkämies told Turun Sanomat.”