The Finnish Border Guard and the Police practise helicopter and special forces operations in Uusimaa and the Gulf of Finland

The Finnish Border Guard’s Air Patrol Squadron hosts the international ATLAS NAVAL HELO cooperation exercise on 25–29 August.

The focus of the training is Helsinki Airport, but the exercise also extends to elsewhere in Uusimaa and to the Gulf of Finland sea area. Helicopters are be employed in the training.

This exercise is a part of the annual training operations of Europol’s ATLAS network, where training expands throughout Europe. Law enforcement special intervention units of the EU Member States and associated countries participate in ATLAS operations. The police special intervention unit Karhu answers for Finland’s membership in the network.

The Finnish Border Guard supports the Finnish Police by providing helicopters, for instance. In addition to the Finnish Border Guard and the Special Intervention Unit Karhu, stationed in Helsinki Police Department, also flight crews, helicopters and observers from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden participate in the exercise.

– This exercise is an example of the fluent special intervention unit cooperation in the Baltic Sea region, as well as in the EU area more widely. The Police and the Finnish Border Guard have through determined development work created a Finnish capability for special maritime situations. As a result, training in the Finnish archipelago and sea area is interesting, and even challenging, for our international partners. Operators with special training, helicopter operations, offshore patrol vessels, boats and cooperation skills form a coherent whole, Border Security Specialist Petteri Blomvall from the Finnish Border Guard Headquarters states.

– The importance of international cooperation is emphasised in the current security situation. It is important that the Police trains together with domestic operators as well as foreign cooperation partners. ATLAS network combines European law enforcement special intervention units. ATLAS training is extremely important, since it is a concrete way for the Finnish Police to provide and receive international special intervention assistance within its own operations, Chief of the Special Intervention Unit Karhu, Chief Inspector Juha Hietala states.

– This exercise provides an excellent opportunity for the Air Patrol Squadron to develop and verify our capabilities within special flight operations that have been developed with determination. A shared flight mission with an international training group both improves our ability to cooperate and offers an opportunity to share best practises, the leader of the flight exercise, Jan Malmgren, from the Finnish Border Guard’s Air Patrol Squadron comments.