Finland Approves Changes to Nuclear Energy Act

Finland’s Parliamentary Defence Committee on Tuesday approved amendments to the Nuclear Energy Act, opening the door for the introduction of nuclear weapons in the country. On 23 April, the Finnish government submitted a proposal to parliament to amend the Nuclear Energy Act and the Criminal Code, which would lift the current ban on importing, manufacturing, storing, and using nuclear weapons in the country. The defence committee proposed approving the bill. Opposition members from the Social Democrats, the Green Party, and the Left Alliance did not support the proposal, but this did not affect the decision. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Finland’s plans to allow the import of nuclear weapons as ‘concentrated confrontation.’ In addition to Finland, several European countries are considering stationing nuclear weapons on their territory. In March, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France was entering a period of ‘advanced nuclear deterrence,’ which would increase the number of nuclear warheads and deploy weapons to other European nations. The United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, and Denmark have agreed to participate in the nuclear initiative.