The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) met in Finland on Thursday (26 March) to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war, North Atlantic security and the coalition’s future.
The military partnership, comprising 10 northern European nations, has played a key role in protecting critical undersea infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a UK-led military partnership made up of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
All members are also part of NATO. Their armed forces train together and respond jointly to threats in the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea regions. The JEF is designed to integrate into operations led by NATO, the UN and other security coalitions.
The JEF was conceived by the UK in the early 2010s as a way for allied nations to respond more quickly than larger organisations during crises.
In 2014, seven countries: the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway — signed an initial agreement to establish the partnership.
Finland and Sweden came on board in 2017 and the nine countries formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing JEF a year later in 2018. Iceland, which does not maintain a standing army, joined in 2021.
JEF forces operate primarily in and around member states but can also respond to challenges further afield, including humanitarian crises. Any response would be aligned with NATO’s objectives.
Since its formation, JEF forces have been deployed across the Baltic Sea region and in Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland and Denmark. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the partnership has stepped up deterrence missions, including protecting critical undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.
Lately, JEF nations have worked together to form a shared strategic understanding of the legal basis for countering Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers, which are used to bypass Western sanctions on oil exports.
From September, the military partnership will carry out three years of deployments and patrols in the Arctic and surrounding areas, including Iceland, the Danish Straits and Norway.
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The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) met in Finland on Thursday (26 March) to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war, North Atlantic security a...
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Pakistan has resumed military operations against Afghanistan after a brief Eid ceasefire, officials said on Thursday, dampening hopes of a lasting truce following the worst cross-border fighting in years.
Iran has alerted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the killing of civilians, medical staff and aid workers in U.S.–Israeli attacks, the vice-president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society has said.
The European Union has announced €250,000 in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan to support families displaced by conflict and those recovering from last year’s earthquakes, with around 70,000 people expected to benefit.
Türkiye and Britain have signed a three-year deal covering training, maintenance and technical support for UK-made Eurofighter Typhoon jets, 20 of which Türkiye bought last year.
Both the United States and Iran are giving conflicting messages about trying to end the conflict in the Middle East as the rest of the world battle with the consequences of the war. Welcome to AnewZ's coverage of the tensions in the Middle East.
Israel says it has killed Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy.
A drone has flown into Estonian airspace from Russia. It happened early on Wednesday morning and slammed into a chimney at a local power station, the Baltic country's Internal Security Service told public broadcaster ERR.
Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal to end the war, insisting any ceasefire will occur only on its own terms and timeline, according to a senior political-security official speaking to state-run Press TV on Wednesday.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN), said on Wednesday that the U.S. had “clearly made a mistake” in launching strikes on Iran, arguing Washington misjudged the resilience of the Iranian regime.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has introduced a policy requiring athletes to undergo a one-off gene test to compete in female Olympic events, limiting eligibility to biological women.
Northern European countries must significantly boost military drone production to help Ukraine defeat Russia, Latvia’s Prime Minister has said, warning that victory would be “impossible” without greater support.
Russia has welcomed remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting the U.S. is making security guarantees conditional on Kyiv relinquishing control of the Donbas region.
An industrial area near one of Russia's biggest oil refineries was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, a Russian official said on Thursday.
Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo on Thursday says the next arms sale package from the United States is on track after the government received a letter of guarantee from Washington, even as the U.S. and Chinese leaders prepare to meet in May.
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