Overview
- Finland has become the ninth participant in France's expanded 'extended' nuclear deterrence initiative and the two governments said they will set up a steering group in the coming months to coordinate cooperation.
- Finland and France said their foreign ministers intend to sign a strengthened defence cooperation agreement to formalize planning, joint exercises and expectations of allied conventional support.
- Finnish president Alexander Stubb stressed the move does not replace NATO's deterrence and said Finland will not host nuclear weapons on its territory in peacetime.
- France has made clear it will retain sole decision-making authority over any nuclear use and expects partners to contribute conventional capabilities such as long-range weapons and participation in exercises; Germany is due to join a French nuclear exercise this year.
- The shift follows Finland's June parliamentary vote to end its full ban on nuclear weapons and builds on wider European changes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with possible effects on regional military planning and allied burden-sharing.