Finland plans to lift decades-old ban on hosting nuclear weapons
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The government says the nation's defence environment has "significantly changed" since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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Finland plans to lift decades-old ban on hosting nuclear weapons Just now Share Save Jessica Rawnsley Share Save Finland plans to lift its long-standing ban on having nuclear weapons on its territory, in a move the government says would align the country more closely with Nato's deterrence policy. Defence minister Antti Häkkänen Finland and Europe's security environment had "fundamentally and significantly changed" since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The Nordic nation abandoned decades of military neutrality to join Nato in 2023 over mounting concerns about the threat posed by Russia. Under Finland's 1987 Nuclear Energy Act, the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of nuclear explosives is prohibited on Finnish soil - even during wartime. The government proposal would change that, making it possible to "bring a nuclear weapon into Finland, or to transport, deliver or possess one in Finland, if it is connected to the military defence of Finland", Häkkänen said. "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 defence," he told a news conference on Thursday. Nato's founding principle of collective defence - that an attack on one member nation would be treated as an attack on all - underpins the alliance's nuclear deterrence stategy. As it contains several nuclear powers, this means a direct attack on a member brings with it the risk of a nuclear attack. US nuclear weapons are stationed in several European nations, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation. The Finnish government's proposal requires changes to both the country's Nuclear Energy Act and the criminal code. Its governing right-wing coalition, which holds a majority in parliament, said the proposal had been circulated for consultation until 2 April before it is formally laid out. Finland shares a 1,340km (832-mile) border with Russia - the longest of ...
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