HELSINKI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Tuesday that the government will move forward with a bill to remove legal restrictions on nuclear weapons.
Speaking to reporters at parliament, Orpo said the bill will not be sent back for an all-party preparatory process, as demanded by the opposition, the Social Democratic Party.
Nonetheless, Orpo said he will convene an all-party discussion next week, and is preparing a declaration on nuclear weapons, to be attached as an appendix to the government's upcoming foreign and security policy report.
The declaration will affirm that Finland will not become a nuclear-weapon state, that nuclear weapons will not be stationed in Finland during peacetime, and that they will not be transported through Finnish territory during NATO exercises, Orpo said.
Orpo proposed the declaration after a political dispute erupted over the government's plan to amend Finnish legislation in order to align it with NATO's deterrence and defense policy.
The Finnish government announced on March 5 that it would seek to amend the Nuclear Energy Act and the Criminal Code to remove the blanket ban, in place since the 1980s, on the import of nuclear devices and their transport, supply and possession in Finland.
Under the proposed changes, such activities will be permitted in the context of Finland's national defense, NATO's collective defense, or other defense cooperation.
The issue drew heightened attention after Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said two weeks ago that the government intended to press ahead with the legislative changes, as opposition parties said the government had broken with Finland's long-standing practice of broad consultation on major security policy decisions.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the draft amendments are now under public consultation, with comments due by April 2, as the government seeks to move the changes forward as soon as possible. Finland joined NATO in 2023 as the alliance's 31st member state. ■
