Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö to attend Nato meeting for Ministers of Defence

Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö will take part in a Nato meeting held at the level of Defence Ministers in Brussels on 25 June 2015. Minister Niinistö will take part in a meeting where the Resolute Support (RS) operation in Afghanistan will be discussed. Resolute Support focuses on providing training and advice for the Afghan security forces and institutions.

The meeting will address the security situation in Afghanistan and will also assess the progress of the Resolute Support operation from the perspective of the support given to the Afghan defence and security forces. The future of the RS operation will be discussed during the meeting.

There are currently about 80 Finnish peacekeepers in Afghanistan. They serve in the multinational headquarters of the RS operation in Kabul, the Train Advice Assist Command (TAAC) - North in Mazar -e Sharif and as advisors. A number of Finnish peacekeepers also perform various maintenance and administrative tasks for example in the emergency care in Mazar -e Sharif.

For more information on the content of the meeting, please contact Senior Staff Officer Hannu Teittinen, tel. +358 295 140 317. For information on the programme and timetables, please contact Sami Jaakkola, ADC to the Minister of Defence, tel. +358 295 140 102, and Senior Advisor Kristian Vakkuri, tel. +358 295 140123, on communication details of the visit.