Finland said on Thursday it sought to revoke a ban on foreign nuclear arms deployment.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said at a press conference that the move is needed to fulfill NATO’s collective defense, with the Nordic nation having joined the alliance in 2023 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The amendment is necessary to enable Finland’s military defense as part of the alliance and to take full advantage of NATO’s deterrence and collective defense,” Hakkanen said, according to Reuters.
Reuters said the plan to revoke the nuclear ban will be decided by the Finnish parliament, with a right-wing coalition majority.
Finland’s 1987 Nuclear Energy Act bans the import, manufacture, possession, and detonation of nuclear explosives on its soil, a restriction some Finns argue would benefit Russia in wartime, according to Reuters.
Finland shares a border with Russia, with reports of Russian military buildup along the Finnish border surfacing in May 2025. Moscow later announced plans to fortify the 1,300-km-long (808 miles) border, including a revamped Soviet-era garrison about 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the border.
Helsinki’s latest decision also comes as Europe explores collective nuclear deterrence in the face of dwindling US support and deteriorating global security.
In 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to discuss deploying French aircraft carrying nuclear weapons in other European countries. He revisited the ideas intermittently, including in February 2026 when he said he was considering a doctrine that could include “special cooperation, joint exercises, and shared security interests with certain key countries.”
Finland’s neighbor Denmark ruled out French nukes on Danish soil but acknowledged the talks to be “unfortunately” necessary, while Sweden said it viewed Macron’s proposal “positively.”
Germany is also a vocal supporter of the initiative, though it also argued that it does not replace US nuclear assets deployed in Europe.
“France and Germany have agreed to take first concrete steps beginning this year, including German conventional participation in French nuclear exercises and joint visits to strategic sites,” Germany said in a joint statement with France.
“This Franco-German cooperation is based on the shared understanding that the nuclear dimension of deterrence remains a cornerstone of European security, relying on US extended deterrence.”
France holds Europe’s largest nuclear arsenal at about 290 warheads, with the UK the only other nuclear power in Europe and reliant on the US for technical maintenance. But together, their arsenals are far smaller than those of the US and Russia.