MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Finland’s possible lifting of the ban on the transit of nuclear weapons through its territory may indicate the country leadership’s desire to shed its status as a "second rate NATO member" and participate in the alliance’s strategic decisions, Nikolay Novik, an expert at the Institute of World Military Economics and Strategy at the Higher School of Economics, told TASS.
Finland’s Yle publication, citing sources, previously reported on the possible lifting of the ban on the transit of nuclear weapons within Finland. "From a military strategy perspective, Helsinki needs to legalize transit to eliminate its ‘second rate NATO member’ status and create a seamless collective defense system," Novik said. "NATO officially views nuclear weapons as a key element of its security strategy, and allies participate in the development of relevant policies through structures like the Nuclear Planning Group," he added.
Finland joined NATO amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "It seeks to demonstrate its readiness to fully participate in the alliance’s mechanisms, including the nuclear component, and flexibility in transit issues increases NATO's operational capabilities in the Northern European theater and strengthens the effect of ‘extended nuclear deterrence,’" the expert noted.
He explained that, in practice, lifting the ban does not mean deploying nuclear weapons on Finnish territory; it is about creating a legal basis for transit. "For example, for the transportation of allied nuclear weapons through Finnish ports, airfields, or airspace as part of NATO operations." Similar mechanisms exist in a number of alliance countries that don’t possess their own nuclear weapons—they can participate in logistics, escorting launch vehicles, or providing infrastructure support for nuclear deterrence missions," he said.
However, the Finnish society’s attitude toward such an initiative is negative, Novik noted. "According to opinion polls, a great part of the population opposes allowing nuclear weapons, even in transit. Therefore, the discussion around the possible lifting of the ban reflects a broader process—the adaptation of Finnish strategic culture, long built on military neutrality, to the new reality of membership in a nuclear alliance," the expert concluded.