Finland will not deploy nuclear weapons on its territory after the country officially joins the North Atlantic Alliance, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on the sidelines of a security conference in Sweden.

“Finland did not put forward any preconditions when applying for membership (to NATO. -

RT

), because it did not want to narrow the scope of its activities.

But it is clear that there will be no nuclear weapons on Finnish soil, ”Interfax quotes him as saying.

At the same time, Haavisto noted that the country will join the alliance at the same time as Sweden.

“Finland and Sweden form a single strategic defense structure.

The simultaneous announcement of Finland and Sweden on joining NATO is not just a gesture of courtesy, but a matter of strengthening the defense capability of both countries,” the head of Finnish diplomacy stressed.

It is worth noting that after Haavisto's statement, the local TV channel MTV Uutiset published the results of a public opinion poll, according to which almost half of the Finns (48%) were against the deployment of a permanent NATO base in the country.

Nuclear fluctuations

It is worth noting that earlier the authorities of Finland and Sweden did not exclude the possibility of deploying NATO bases or nuclear weapons on the territory of these countries.

In early November, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced this.

She stressed that there should be "no preconditions" for Helsinki's membership in the alliance.

Then she was supported by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

In addition, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces Mikael Byden recommended that the Swedish government refrain from setting any restrictions on the country's accession to NATO, including the deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory.

  • Flags of NATO member countries at the headquarters of the alliance

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency

Later, however, the rhetoric of the Stockholm and Helsinki officials changed.

First, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström announced the refusal to deploy NATO nuclear weapons in the country in November 2022.

He noted that in this matter the kingdom will follow the example of Denmark and Norway.

“The long-term position of the Moderate Coalition Party is unchanged.

We never intended to change the terms of the application submitted by the previous government, ”Reuters quotes him as saying.

And in early December, a similar position was voiced by Pekka Haavisto.

Then the head of the Foreign Ministry said that Helsinki was not asking anyone for nuclear weapons and no one was offering them to the Finnish side.

Recall that in Europe, among NATO members, only France and Great Britain are members of the so-called nuclear club and they have a total of about 500 nuclear warheads.

At the same time, the United States stores a significant number of its nuclear weapons on the European continent: about 100 nuclear weapons are stationed at air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The authorities of Finland and Sweden say they are not going to place nuclear weapons on their territory, but infrastructure will definitely appear on their territory with which these weapons can be used against Russia, Andrey Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, said in a conversation with RT.

“Moreover, they will implement this infrastructure, regardless of the opinion of these states, because NATO members delegate part of their sovereignty and capabilities in exchange for the “umbrella” that the United States promises them.

Finland and Sweden themselves may not have nuclear weapons, but infrastructure complexes will appear on their territory that will ensure the success of their use.

In addition, sooner or later the leadership of Finland will change, and the country will remain in the organization.

And it is not known whether they will retain such an anti-nuclear doctrine in the future.

After all, the current leadership will not be responsible for what was said before it, ”the expert emphasized.

Political obstacles


Recall that Finland and Sweden, which until recently maintained a neutral status, announced their intention to join NATO as full members after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

Helsinki and Stockholm filed official applications to join the alliance on May 18, 2022.

However, the issue of the entry of the two countries into NATO still remains in limbo due to the fact that Turkey and Hungary have not ratified the necessary documents.

At the same time, the Hungarian authorities had previously promised that they would do this at the beginning of 2023. 

Turkey has taken a more principled position.

Earlier, Ankara opposed the admission of Sweden and Finland to the alliance and put forward a number of conditions that they must fulfill in order for the Turkish parliament to ratify the protocols on their entry into NATO, as required by the official procedure.

Turkey's main conditions relate to the fight against terrorism: in particular, Ankara demands from Stockholm and Helsinki to stop supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the organization of the preacher Fethullah Gülen, which the Turkish authorities consider terrorist.

Sweden and Finland went to meet the Turkish side, but at the end of December, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara still has claims against Sweden regarding how it fulfills the conditions set by the Turkish side.

“There is a document, and it (provisions. -

RT

) must be followed.

We are not even halfway yet (the way. -

RT

).

We are at the very beginning,” Cavusoglu stressed, referring to the Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, signed in June 2022.

In turn, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on January 8 that his country could not fulfill all of Turkey's conditions for Ankara to approve Stockholm's application for NATO membership.

“Turkey confirms that we have done what we promised, but they also say they want what we cannot or do not want to give them,” the politician said.

Leading RISS expert Sergei Ermakov, in a conversation with RT, noted that the slowdown in the process of Sweden's entry into NATO means a slowdown in Finland's entry into the bloc, since both countries from the very beginning declared their intention to synchronize this process.

“Sweden faced certain difficulties in joining the alliance due to opposition from Turkey.

In turn, Hungary is also looking back at the Turkish side, which also has not yet ratified the necessary protocols.

The formal membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO now depends on the leadership of these two countries.

At the same time, informally, of course, they are already following the same path together with the North Atlantic Alliance, ”the expert emphasized.

  • B-52 strategic bomber

  • AP

  • © Matthew Hinton

As for the issue of the possible appearance of nuclear weapons on the territory of these countries, Finland and Sweden declare their refusal to deploy them, but do not refuse to participate in joint NATO missions, in which the United States, Great Britain and France provide access to non-nuclear countries to such weapons, reminded Ermakov.

“Most likely, in the near future we will not see American bases and special storage facilities with bombs on their territory, which already exist in other European countries.

However, this does not mean that in the future Finland and Sweden will not participate in NATO nuclear missions and in the nuclear planning group.

With the help of these mechanisms, NATO creates a precedent when, formally, a country does not have nuclear weapons, but strategic nuclear aircraft can use the airspace and infrastructure of member countries to practice a nuclear strike, ”explained the interlocutor of RT.

At the same time, the politicians of these states have begun to fully realize that joining NATO will draw the attention of Russia to them, which will have to think about ensuring its security, and now they are trying to lower the degree of rhetoric compared to the statements that were rashly made in the spring of 2022- go, added Ermakov.

“In the past, Finland opposed NATO membership, as this will inevitably entail a negative reaction from Russia and provoke instability in the region.

But everything changes according to the situation.

Finland's current course is one of aggravating relations with Russia.

However, in Helsinki they are well aware of what their actions can lead to, ”concluded the political scientist.