Finland and Japan have launched negotiations on a military tech and equipment transfer deal designed to enable closer collaboration on defense-industrial issues amid shared security concerns, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in an exclusive interview.
“Finland is keen to deepen bilateral relations, and Japan is an important strategic partner for Finland,” the 55-year-old Finnish leader told The Japan Times following a visit to Tokyo last week where he held talks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that focused largely on economic and international security issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security, and shows how the two are interlinked,” he said.