English translation of the FIIA Report Finland in Afghanistan 2001–2021: From stabilization to advancing foreign and security policy relations, has been published and it is now available to be read and downloaded at the institute’s webpage here. The report was published originally Finnish in December 2022.
Finland participated in the international stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, contributing around 2,500 soldiers and 140 civilian crisis management experts. During this period, Finland’s development cooperation funds and humanitarian assistance allocated to Afghanistan amounted to around EUR 398 million.
The report is an independent study on Finland’s participation in the international intervention, and it is based on an analysis of broad range of interviews. The research was conducted over the course of November 2021–December 2022. The study was commissioned by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament (UavP 61/2021), and the research was led by Katariina Mustasilta at FIIA.
The study finds that Finland’s activities in Afghanistan were guided primarily by the desire to maintain and deepen its international foreign and security policy partnerships, for example, with the United States and NATO. The aims related to stabilizing Afghanistan and the strategic monitoring of their attainment remained secondary concerns.
The official publication event of the translation of the report is held today on 19 June in Brussels. The event is co-hosted by the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU. The event explores the report’s main takeaways with a focus on the key lessons relevant at the broader European and international level regarding future crisis and conflict situations.