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Finland invites foreign troops to Lapland

Sondakylд, Finland

Finnish Minister of Defence Jyri Hakamies proposes to establish a new military training centre outside the northern town of Sodankyla. Extensive military training cooperation could begin with Sweden and Norway on the site, he said when visiting the town last Friday.

Location

During his visit to the Sodankylä Brigade last week, Mr. Häkämies said that the brigade could grow to serve all of Europe, Yle reports. The international training could start with Norway and Sweden, he believes. The Sodankylä municipality is located in Finnish Lapland, north of the regional capital of Rovaniemi. The Jaeger Brigade of the Finnish Army is located in Sodankylä. Strictly speaking Sodankylä translates to something like ‘Warvillage’ or ‘Village of War’, though the etymology of the name most likely doesn’t point to to the word ‘war’, Wikipedia writes.