HELSINKI, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Finnish helicopter crews may not participate in the EU's Nordic Battle Group for crisis management due to a staff pay dispute, the major Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Tuesday.
Finland has committed to provide four NH90 transport helicopters for any possible EU crisis management operation from the beginning of January to the end of June in 2015, according to media reports.
Helsingin Sanomat said that the Finnish Defence Forces(FDF) is mired in an embarrassing situation, as part of the some 70 FDF staff needed to be deployed to the helicopters refused to take part in the operation unless they are paid more.
Those who did not want to join the operation are mainly specialized staff members, such as mechanics.
In terms of relevant Finnish laws, tasks of international crisis management are voluntary, and no one can be forced to undertake them.
The Finnish defence forces have three statutory functions: defending their mother land, assisting other authorities and participating in international crisis management. The first two are compulsive, but the third one is voluntary at individual level, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
Petri Hulkko, Chief of Operations, Army Command Finland, wrote in a local newspaper's column published last weekend that the Finnish legislation on this issue is "a casting error".
Hulkko hoped that the crisis management participation would be mandatory, despite the compulsion needs changes in the current legislation in practice.
Finnish Defence Minister Carl Haglund declined to comment directly on the situation, but said that there has been discussion on whether the law should be changed.
"It's good that the matter can be discussed," Haglund was quoted as saying, "but this is primarily a labor market issue".
The Nordic Battle Group is one of eighteen European Union battle groups. It consists of around 2,500 soldiers and officers, with manpower contributed from the seven participating countries -- Sweden, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The group is on standby from January 1 to June 30 in 2015 as a key component of the EU's rapid response capability for military crisis management.
