Finnish politician: NATO could deploy nuclear weapons without approval

NATO and the United States could deploy nuclear weapons in Finland at any time without seeking approval from the country's authorities, according to Armando Mema, a member of Finland's national-conservative Freedom Alliance party.

He said now that Finland has changed its nuclear weapons legislation, NATO no longer needs approval to deploy nuclear weapons in Finland if it decides to do so, Caliber.Az reports, citing his post on X.

“No public debate was made on this very important issue. In practice, the US could deploy at any time these weapons without need to even inform the Finnish authorities," Mema wrote.

Now that Finland changed law on nuclear weapons, NATO does not need any approval to deploy nukes in Finland if it will decide to do so. No public debate was made on this very important issue. In practice, the US could deploy at any time these weapons without need to even inform…

— Armando Mema (@ArmandoMema) August 4, 2026

On April 23, the Finnish government submitted a bill to parliament proposing to allow the import and storage of nuclear weapons on Finnish territory.

To implement the change, the government proposed amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Criminal Code.

On June 17, Finland's parliament approved the bill. The proposal was backed by 125 lawmakers, while 61 voted against it and 13 were absent from the vote.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov