On 5 March 2026, the Finnish government announced it would like to abolish the ban on having nuclear weapons on its soil as a host nation. However, Helsinki is not planning to develop or have its own nukes. Unlike Poland, that reportedly is considering to possibility to have its own.
During a press conference Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said: “Our current laws do not match the need that Finland has as a NATO member.” On 3 April 2023, the Scandinavian country joined the military alliance, as a direct result of the full-scale war Russia is waging on Ukraine. Before that, Finland was neutral and for decades stayed relatively close to Moscow — even having Soviet-made Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 combat jets between 1963 and 1998.
The Finnish government emphasises it is not planning to use nuclear weapons on its soil, but wants to be legally allowed to “import, transport and store” the doomsday weapons if they are deemed necessary for the country’s defence. If the abolishment of the ban is greenlighted by the Finnish parliament, it would end the nuclear prohibition Finland had since the 1980s.
European nuclear weapon programmes
During the Cold War, Sweden was developing its own nuclear weapons, but halted it. The radioactive material was later flown to the United States, in full secrecy. Nowadays, the only NATO members owning nukes are the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Moreover, the US Air Force has stored nuclear bombs at air bases in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey — as part of NATO’s deterrence against first the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and now against Russia and Belarus.
Polish military nuclear ambitions
Meanwhile, on the southern side of the Baltic Sea, Poland might be seeking to have its own nuclear arms. “We are investing heavily in future nuclear power plants, and Poland will not want to be passive when it comes to nuclear security in a military context,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this week in a cabinet meeting.
For now, Warsaw is seeking cooperation with France, that has offered its nuclear arms as a European umbrella alternative to the one of the United States, but as having one of NATO’s stronger national armies, Poland apparently does not rule out a doomsday weapon ambition of its own to scare of Putin’s Russia. | © 2026 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com. Featured photo: A single nuclear explosion (AI-generated with Adobe Firefly)