Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland said her nation’s accession to NATO would not involve an obligation to host NATO military bases or nuclear weapons. Neither idea is currently under discussion, she told an Italian newspaper during a working visit to Rome on Wednesday.
Marin was asked by the Corriere della Sera daily whether Finland would rule out the deployment of permanent NATO bases or nuclear weapons on its soil after joining NATO. Finland and Sweden both applied for membership this week.
The ruling Swedish Democratic Party made it clear last week that while it supported seeking NATO membership, it would resist if asked to host foreign nuclear weapons or military bases. Finland, the Italian newspaper observed, didn’t make a similar commitment and asked Marin to comment.
“Nobody is forcing nuclear weapons or bases on us if we don’t want them,” she said, adding that in both cases the decision would be up to Finland.
“We have a law in Finland that forbids the deployment of nuclear weapons on our territory. So, I suppose this issue is not on the table,” she added. “There is no interest to deploy nuclear weapons or open bases in Finland.”