Finland joins French nuclear deterrence initiative

Finland is joining the French-led Forward Nuclear Deterrence Initiative, the governments of both countries announced in a joint statement.

In March, France offered its European allies closer cooperation to strengthen the credibility of its own nuclear arsenal. The project provides for joint exercises, the option of a short-term transfer of nuclear weapons-capable systems to the territory of allies and closer consultations. However, it does not offer a formal nuclear protective shield based on the US model.

"The French initiative does not replace NATO's nuclear deterrent and does not overlap with it," emphasized Finnish President Alexander Stubb in the online service X. His country acts primarily as part of NATO and the EU. Finland has no plans to "station nuclear weapons on its territory in peacetime," explained Stubb. The foreign ministers of both countries wanted to sign an agreement on increased defense cooperation on Monday afternoon.

The Finnish parliament voted in June to end the complete ban on nuclear weapons. After decades of non-alignment, Finland joined NATO in 2023. The background was the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the fear that Russia could attack other European countries. Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer-long border with Russia.

However, decision-making authority over nuclear weapons should remain exclusively in the hands of the French president. France expects greater support from its allies in the conventional area, for example through long-range weapons. The question of whether and how France wants to station nuclear weapons in partner countries in the future remained open.

As part of closer cooperation, Germany wants to take part in a French nuclear exercise for the first time this year. A date for this has not yet been announced.