Notices about termination of long-term lease agreements received the inhabitants of Rovaniemi, Jyvaskyla and the Kuopio area. Within half a year they will have to leave their semi-detached and terraced houses. The reason is “strategically important location of the areas” – the Finnish radio Yle reported on Thursday. The termination of the contracts concerns more than 60 houses and over 120 people.
Most of the residents who received correspondence about the termination of contracts at the end of November are surprised and shocked by the decision – emphasized in the radio report. Some lived there for over a dozen yearsinside they planned to raise children. They must leave the premises before June 2025.
They lived next to a secret intelligence center listening to signals from Russia
Residents of Tikkakoski near Jyvaskyla in the middle one Finlandwhere there is, among others, air force academy base, and in Siilinjarvi near Kuopio, had direct view of the air traffic control towers straight from the backyard.
Tikkakoski also became famous when the daily “Helsingin Sanomat” revealed the operation of the secret military intelligence centerwhich, according to a report from 2017, was to specialize in controlling various types of signalsincluding, above all coming from Russia.
Journalists dealing with the case they were brought to justice for disclosing confidential information.
Finland initiated the procedures several years earlier
They are organized periodically at the Rovaniemi airport international maneuversand since Finland joined NATO in April 2023, military exercisesincluding those involving fighters, are taking place with increasing intensity.
According to information from Radio Yle, the procedure for taking over developed strategic areas by the armed forces has been completed initiated already in 2019but the residents found out about it only in recent weeks.
The authorities also expected the tenants to move out sooner, even sooner before the end of 2024. In Rovaniemi, officials are trying to help find new apartments, but the situation is difficult no available premises in the area.