PM speaks about plan of major exercise in 2020

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä on Wednesday said a large military exercise would possibly be held in Finland in 2020, but the preparation was still at an early stage.

Sipilä said that the plan is compatible with the government defense policy. "But this very exercise and its contents have not yet been accepted yet," he said.

He reiterated that increased international exercises are part of the current Finnish defense policy, reported Finnish news agency.

Sipilä said the plan would be discussed together with President Sauli Niinistö and the relevant cabinet members in December.

The forum for discussion in December is the regular meeting of the ministerial group for foreign and security affairs.

Finnish plans about international military exercises are reviewed and given a political "go ahead" in this group meeting, chaired by President Niinistö.

The meeting due in December will primarily review the situation in 2018, but will take a look at 2020 as well.

Earlier, Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö promoted the idea publicly. During the meetings of defense ministers from several NATO countries as well as Finland and Sweden in Helsinki on Monday and Tuesday, Jussi Niinistö gave invitations to join the maneuver. He later underlined the invitations were informal.

President Sauli Niinistö intervened on Monday and said he had not been informed about the plan. The president's comment came as he had just met visiting U.S. Secretary of State James Mattis.

Since then, also members of the parliamentary defense committee have voiced concern about lack of information.

Under the current constitution in Finland, foreign policy is managed jointly by the president and the government.