Finland offers 1,500 troops to EU aid force

HELSINKI -- Finland can offer 1,500 soldiers to the planned 60,000-strong European rapid reaction force, the government said in a statement on Friday.

The European Union (EU) is working to create a force which could be swiftly deployed to humanitarian crises for up to a year.

The troops, which the government said would be pooled with forces from other Nordic countries, would also be available to participate in operations headed by the UN and NATO.

Negotiations based on EU member states' preliminary offers will begin in the first week of September, and final contribution numbers will be confirmed at an EU conference in November, the government added.

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