Finland today deployed its fighter jets as part of a joint NATO mission to Romania for the first time since it joined the pact in April 2023 , sending seven F-18 aircraft to the military base "Mihail Koglunicanu" in southeastern Romania, where they will carry out airspace protection missions together with Romanian and British fighter jets, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
A Finnish air force commander said the mission would help accelerate Finland's integration into NATO.
"I am sure that during this intensified airspace security mission, our integration into NATO will receive a strong impetus," Johan Antilla, commander of Finland's Karelia Air Wing, told soldiers on the runway at the base "Mikhail Koglunicanu".
"We as a team will learn a lot and all of this will strengthen NATO's deterrence and defense," he added. Finland's admission to NATO, following seven decades of neutrality, doubled the length of the pact's border with Russia and strengthened the alliance's eastern flank amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Romania, a member of the pact since 2004, was among the first member states to approve Finland's admission. Romania shares a 650-kilometer border with Ukraine and has repeatedly found debris from Russian drones used in attacks on Ukrainian ports on the opposite bank of the Danube, the river that separates the two countries. Romania has also built a NATO-backed regional F-16 fighter pilot training center on its territory, where Ukrainian pilots will soon begin training to fly this type of aircraft provided by the Netherlands.