Two of Russia’s antagonistic neighbors, Finland and Poland, are working to bring nuclear weapons within their borders. The Russians, who have more nuclear warheads than any other country, are not happy about this.
The Finnish government announced last week that it sent a proposal to Parliament to amend the country’s nuclear laws, which “proposes to remove the legal barriers on importing nuclear devices into Finland and on transporting, supplying or possessing them in Finland in the context of Finland’s homeland defense, the collective defense of NATO or defense cooperation.” This is part of the reforms “necessary for Finland’s integration with NATO” and part of the alliance’s deterrence and defense power. Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen said the “legislative amendment is necessary for the security of Finland.”
Meanwhile, nuclear-armed France is set to conduct military exercises with Poland, which shares about 140 miles of border and a lot of bad blood with Russia. According to reports, “French Rafale fighters equipped with nuclear-capable missiles will conduct simulated nuclear missions, while Polish aircraft will provide long-range reconnaissance and Polish F-16s will simulate cruise missile attacks.”
Polish media reported:
The Dassault Rafale fighter jets possess a combat radius that allows them to fly directly from bases in France to a strategic line stretching between Budapest and Kaliningrad. From this position, the aircraft would be within range to launch strikes against designated targets located inside Russia and Belarus.
Reports say France doesn’t plan on permanently stationing nuclear-armed fighter jets in Poland.
Russian Response
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “that such plans indicate Europe’s drive toward further militarization and nuclearization.”
As for Finland, Russian Ambassador to Helsinki Pavel Kuznetsov told Russian media:
Undoubtedly, such a development naturally causes us concern. One does not need to be a military expert to understand that the presence of nuclear weapons on Finnish territory — or even the theoretical possibility of their appearance there at any moment — will be fully taken into account in Russian nuclear planning.… We are closely monitoring the discussion of this bill. We expect Helsinki to be aware of the risks it will face as a result of hastily changing its nuclear policy, not to mention the potential for increased tensions in the Baltic-Arctic region.
Kuznetsov warned the Fins that the proposal “will not be without complications” and that Finnish citizens are being dragged into an “unpredictable gamble.”
NATO Expansion
Finland joined NATO in April 2023, ironically in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One of the major reasons Russia gave for its invasion of Ukraine was because Ukraine sought to become a NATO member. Finland shares more than 800 miles of border with Russia.
Poland has been a NATO member since 1999. The Poles have reported several incursions of Russian drones into their territory over the last year.
If the Finns and Poles end up with nuclear weapons, they would become the first of Russia’s antagonistic neighbors to have them. China and North Korea, which also share a border with Russia, have nuclear arms, but are on friendly terms with Russia.
American officials have issued comments as recently as March indicating the United States is not in favor of other European countries obtaining nuclear weapons. A Pentagon official said the United States was against ”European countries such as Poland, Germany or the Scandinavian states seeking to develop their own nuclear weapons,” per reports. U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby said the United States would try to talk those countries out of obtaining nukes and “at a minimum strenuously oppose it.”
