Finland removes ban on nuclear weapons

As of 1 July 2026, it is legal for nuclear weapons to be stored on Finnish territory. On 26 June, President Stubb signed the Parliamentary bill changing the two laws that formerly prohibited nuclear weapons from Finland’s territory. The change has been a long time coming, not least because of NATO’s 2024 new nuclear policy, but has its roots in its decision to join NATO, Russia’s 2022 (re-)invasion of Ukraine, all the way back to the end of World War II and the post-war settlement - the Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1949. And the urgency came because of the July 2026 NATO Ankara Summit.

Want to know more? Details below, with links, because the more you know…

The process of changing Finnish law to allow (or to de-criminalize the storage or transit of) nuclear weapons on its territory began when it announced its intention to join NATO in 2022, Finland declared that as a member, it would not impost limits on its military contributions, unlike, say, Norway and Denmark did when they helped to form the Alliance in 1949.

However, while Norway and Denmark’s limits, which include nuclear weapons, these are not enshinred in law. In fact, among Allies, only Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, and Romania have legal bans on deployment of nuclear weapons on their territory. Lithuania already is moving to remove this ban. Finland has raced ahead of them.

According to the Finnish Government:

The purpose of the change in legislation is “to remove legislative obstacles that may limit Finland’s military defense and the full utilization of NATO’s deterrence and collective defense…The bill will bring Finnish legislation into line with NATO operations…and part of the legislative reform package required for NATO integration…”

The urgency comes in the form of the 18 June 2026 Defense Ministerial in Brussels leading up to the July 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara.

I previously thought they might get an update or report from the Nuclear Planning Group, but it now appears that a decision will be taken on NATO NPG Communiqués, adding more Allied 5th Generation aircraft to the nuclear mission, and now Distributed Operation Bases/Untethered Operation Bases for pre-war dispersal of US B61 nuclear bombs and Dual Capable Aircraft.

Reporting in the press has been pretty positive. And now it’s done, 125-61 with 13 absentees, and we only had to wait a week for Stubb to sign the law.

This story is along time coming. First, let’s talk about self-restraint and NATO, as well as Finland’s particular history and views. See also Matti Pesu’s fantastic explainer here.

As I mentioned, Denmark and Norway declared unilateral restraint upon joining NATO, including on bases, deployments, and exercises. But this is politically-binding, not legal. Norway has eroded those constraints over time and Denmark’s restraint never applied to Greenland. I am preparing a post on the full history of these declarations soon.

Finland, as with many other countries resentful of their time under Soviet influence during the Cold War (for Finland, it was the dreaded Finno-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance of April 1948), passed a law to prevent nuclear weapons on its territory. They feared that the Soviets might go further than the FCMA and occupy Finland. FCMA already prevented it from conducting an independent foreign policy, so who knows what else they would do? To quote the Finnish Government itself:

The background to the regulation was, in particular, the need to prevent Finland from finding itself in a situation where the Soviet Union could have sought to intensify its defense relationship with Finland, for example by bringing nuclear weapons to Finnish territory or through Finland, invoking the consultation obligations of the YYA [FMCA] Treaty.

Now, when these laws were drawn up in the 1980s, even post the dreaded FCMA restrictions, the idea of Finland’s membership in NATO was considered laughable. The brutal Russian re-invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent war crime after war crime changed all that.

Finland is nothing if not meticulous in their study and reason before taking major decisions. Hence, the report on the need to change the nuclear weapons-related laws is a masterclass in reasoning, as is the report on NATO accession and subsequent committee analyses.

When Finland joined NATO, it stated in its proposal to join the Alliance (HE 315 /2022 vp)that its membership would not have any self-imposed limits:

Finland has not set national restrictions on NATO membership and participates extensively in the alliance’s activities.

In that initial report (HE 315 /2022 vp), the Finnish Government did not believe that nuclear-related laws would need to change, but it reserved the right to amend legislation related to defense matters at a later date.

Once Finland joined the NPG as a full member in April 2023, it quickly decided the law required reassessment:

…the changing NATO operating environment have shown that the relationship of the legal ban on nuclear explosives with Finland's NATO membership and the Alliance's collective defence needs to be reassessed…

And Finland understands deterrence:

(83) A key requirement for credible deterrence is the preservation of freedom of action. Deterrence is not only a matter of military capability, but also a political and communicational package designed to prevent an adversary from taking actions that could lead to war or a serious crisis. If national legislation makes the alliance's options predictable or limits them in advance, the preventive effect of deterrence is weakened.

Under Finnish law, even with the US-Finland Defence Cooperation Agreement, US servicemen transiting Finland with nuclear weapons (towards Russian targets, surely), would violate Finnish law. And, if SACEUR needed to temporarily move nuclear weapons to Finland to prevent Russia from destroying them in a first strike, that too would violate the law.

The law had to change. The possibilty of changing laws during a crisis was dismissed, so the law had to change now. Displaying a pragmatism and willingness to bear burdens with aplomb, they stated simply:

Finland demonstrates that it is ready to bear its share of NATO's nuclear weapons sharing and does not shift responsibility for the credibility of the nuclear deterrent solely to the nuclear-weapon states or to the Allies participating in nuclear weapons sharing arrangements.

There are two parts of Finnish law that address the legality of the presence of nuclear weapons on or over Finland’s territory: the Nuclear Energy Act and the Penal Code.

1. Here is the first, the Finland Nuclear Energy Act of 1987 (990/1987 with amendments):

The Government’s proposal is to delete Section 4 entirely - the Act will no longer cover the import of nuclear explosives, which herefor will only be dealt with in the Criminal Code of Finland.

2. Here is the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Finland:

Now, the new legislation promises that:

Fantastic. What happened next? Here’s your handy timeline:

1. 5 March: Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen announced that Finland would seek to change its national legislation to remove restrictions on nuclear weapons on its territory.

   

   William Alberque@walberque

   The process of Finland changing its legislation to allow nuclear transit or wartime stationing is consistent with its declaration in 2022 that as a member, it would not impost limits on its military contributions, unlike, say, Norway and Denmark. 1/2 helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finlan…

   

   Matti Pesu @PesuMatti

   1. Brief explainer of Finland’s decision to ease its ban on nuclear weapons. TL;DR: This has nothing to do with the French initiative. It is about removing legacy legislation in order to complete Finland’s full integration into NATO. https://t.co/cxXQKnOUmu

   8:01 AM · Mar 6, 2026 · 6.11K Views

   1 Reply · 3 Reposts · 14 Likes

2. 5 March: the Finnish Government published the draft law changes and explanation, with a public comment period until 2 April.

William Alberque@walberque

Finland is changing its legislation to allow the transit and stationing of nuclear weapon on its territory consistent with its NATO membership. They have not changed it yet. Public comments on the legislation end on 4 April. Do you want to know more? Of course you do. 1/6

William Alberque @walberque

The process of Finland changing its legislation to allow nuclear transit or wartime stationing is consistent with its declaration in 2022 that as a member, it would not impost limits on its military contributions, unlike, say, Norway and Denmark. 1/2 https://t.co/T7DHiQRlDy

1:52 PM · Mar 6, 2026 · 10.8K Views

1 Reply · 8 Reposts · 25 Likes

3. 2 April: public commentary period closes with 127 comments. Many of the comments are entertaining.

William Alberque@walberque

Finland is changing its laws on nuclear weapons. We have reached the next step: the public comment period closed on 2 April, with 164 comments. Remember that Finnish law previously prohibited nuclear weapons on or transiting through Finnish territory. 1/5

William Alberque @walberque

Finland is changing its legislation to allow the transit and stationing of nuclear weapon on its territory consistent with its NATO membership. They have not changed it yet. Public comments on the legislation end on 4 April. Do you want to know more? Of course you do. 1/6

6:41 PM · Apr 7, 2026 · 6.19K Views

1 Reply · 11 Reposts · 32 Likes

4. 23 April: the Government forwarded its proposal (HE 72/2026 vp) to the Finnish Parliament for consideration.

5. 24 April: the Government presented the proposal in the plenary, with Parliament assigning the case to the Defense Committee for lead, but also sought the views of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Finance Committee, the Legal Affairs Committee, and the Constitutional Law Committee.

6. 6 May-3 June: Expert consultations in the Committees.

7. 26 May: the Legal Affairs Committee sends its report (LaVL 5/2026 vp).

8. 28 May: the Constitutional Law Committee sends its report to the Defense Committee (PeVL 38/2026 vp).

9. 2 June: The Foreign Affairs Committee completes its draft report, debates, and agrees to send the final report (UaVL 4 /2026 vp) to the Defense Committee.

10. 3 June: The Defense Comittee receives the Foreign Affairs Committee report.

11. 9 June: The Defense Committee presented its draft report (PuVM 4/2026 vp), debated, approved, and forwarded the package to Parliament.

12. 10 June: Parliament heard the matter in plenary session (PTK 62/2026 vp) concluding the first reading and approval (PTK 63/2026 vp).

13. 15 June: Parliament holds the second reading (PTK 67/2026 vp).

14. 16 June: Defense Minister

15. 17 June: Parliament approves the bill 125 votes for 61 against and 13 not present; it is now on the President’s desk for signature (PR 69/2026 rd).

The Defense Minister Häkkänen made a special plea on 16 June to Parliament:

Antti Häkkänen@anttihakkanen

Huomenna eduskunta äänestää hallituksen esityksestä ydinenergia- ja rikoslain muuttamisesta. Esityksellä vahvistamme Suomen puolustusta ja mahdollistamme Naton ydinpelotteen täysimääräisen hyödyntämisen Suomen suojana. Kylmän sodan aikainen ydinräjähteiden täyskielto purkamalla

11:15 AM · Jun 16, 2026 · 9.19K Views

65 Replies · 36 Reposts · 373 Likes

Obviously, it worked. After the vote, on 17 June, the victorious Häkkänen tweeted:

Antti Häkkänen@anttihakkanen

Eduskunta hyväksyi vahvalla 2/3 enemmistöllä ydinenergialain muutoksen. Tämä historiallinen uudistus vahvistaa Suomen ja koko Naton turvallisuutta. Ydinasepolitiikan kokonaisuus on ollut tämän vaalikauden haastavimpia kokonaisuuksia puolustusministeriössä. Vuosien perehtyminen,

11:58 AM · Jun 17, 2026 · 8.66K Views

39 Replies · 45 Reposts · 487 Likes

It just took a couple of days, and then this handsome devil…

Signed the law on 26 June, with an entry-into-force of 1 July. KIITOS! And Take a bow, Antti, you earned it.

Antti Häkkänen@anttihakkanen

Ydinenergialain muutos vahvistettiin tänään Tasavallan Presidentin esittelyssä. Laki tulee voimaan 1.7.2026. Historiallinen turvallisuuspolitiikan uudistus, jolla vahvistamme Suomen ja NATOn turvallisuutta. Kiitos kaikille lakiesitystämme tukeneille tahoille. 🇫🇮

1:12 PM · Jun 26, 2026 · 15.2K Views

84 Replies · 41 Reposts · 586 Likes

Now, Finland wanted this law out of the way before the Parliamentary elections in 2027 and allow for potential NATO operations, including hosting nuclear weapons in pre-war crises with Russia under the concept of Distributed Operation Bases and Untethered Operation Bases. This concept - the idea that you have air bases ready to receive nuclear-capable aircraft with their payloads in a crisis - dates back to the Cold War and helps to complicate Russian military planning.

Without this concept, Russia would have to strike a small number of bases that store nuclear weapons in Europe, but with DOB/UOB, those nuclear weapons could be anywhere across the Alliance - at DCA bases, at DOB bases, or at remote locations that serve as temporary air bases. See my previous Substack for more and sources on the DOB/UOB concept.

Does this mean NATO is about to approve a concept for DOB/UOB, including Finnish airfields and remote locations, at the Ankara NATO Summit? Yes, probably. Or at least to open the option…