Finland does not intend to host nuclear weapons in peacetime, president says

By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI, March 13 (Reuters) - NATO member Finland does not intend to host nuclear weapons on its soil in peacetime, President Alexander Stubb said on Friday, aligning with policies in neighbouring Nordic countries.

The president made his comments after Finland's government last week unveiled plans to lift a longstanding ban on nuclear arms on its territory, drawing criticism from neighbouring Russia as well as Finnish opposition parties.

"Finland does not need nuclear weapons in peacetime. This is about nuclear deterrence — a deterrent to ensure they would never have to be used," Stubb told reporters in Helsinki on Friday.

The Kremlin last week said it would respond if Finland placed nuclear weapons on its territory and that such a move would make the Nordic country more vulnerable.

"This is a statement that leads to an escalation of tensions on the European continent," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at the time.

The opposition Social Democratic Party, which holds a lead in opinion polls ahead of an election for parliament next year, has said Finland should make clear it would not want nuclear arms on its territory during peacetime.

Finland has a longstanding tradition of building broad political consensus across party lines when introducing major legislative changes related to national security.

The government has said its nuclear amendment was necessary to take full advantage of NATO's deterrence and defence and to align with Nordic neighbours.

Finland's Nuclear Energy Act, passed in 1987, prohibits the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of nuclear explosives on its soil, seen by some Finns as a clause that would benefit only Russia in case of war.

While Finland maintained neutrality during the Cold War era, the country in 2023 joined the NATO alliance in response to nuclear-armed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine the preceding year.