Helsinki (TDI): Finland’s parliament has approved legislation that would lift the country’s long-standing total ban on nuclear weapons, aligning its laws with NATO’s nuclear deterrence policy three years after Helsinki joined the alliance.
Lawmakers passed the government-backed bill on Wednesday by a vote of 125 in favor to 61 against, with 13 deputies absent. The measure now goes to the president for final approval, the last step before it becomes law.
The bill will permit nuclear weapons to be brought, transported, supplied, or possessed in Finland where the country’s military defense requires it.
It repeals the national prohibition on importing, producing, possessing and detonating nuclear explosives that has been part of Finland’s Nuclear Energy Act since the 1980s, and amends the criminal code to carve out exceptions to the existing ban on nuclear weapons.
Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen framed the change as a defensive necessity. Writing on X the day before the vote, he said the move strengthens Finland’s defense and allows full use of NATO’s nuclear deterrent to protect the country.
The legislation marks the latest step in Finland’s rapid security realignment since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Read More: Finland’s President Proposes EU Expansion to 40 States, Including Canada
Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment to join NATO in April 2023 in direct response to the war. Since then, Helsinki has steadily deepened its integration into the alliance’s defense architecture, including joint exercises along its border with Russia.
The proposal has stirred debate domestically in recent months, with opposition parties criticizing the shift away from Finland’s long-held policy of barring nuclear weapons outright.
The change marks a symbolic break from a position that long defined Finnish defense identity, even as NATO membership makes the old ban increasingly incompatible with collective deterrence commitments.
The vote also comes as Finland weighs participation in a broader European nuclear security initiative. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said earlier this month that Finland was interested in a French-led nuclear deterrence scheme designed to bolster security across the continent, though no final decision has been made.
That program, unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron in March, would see France extend the protective reach of its atomic arsenal to other European countries.
