Finland
Finland abstained on the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty until 2021, but changed to a no vote in 2022 after having applied for NATO membership and embraced the alliance's nuclear doctrine.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Not compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted no (2023) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Observer |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (33%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | N/A |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | No |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Abstained |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1969) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1999, Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1974) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (12 Sep 1981) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In connection with Finland’s application to NATO in May 2022, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Finland issued a statement indicating that, as a NATO member, Finland would retain ‘its high profile in matters of disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, without questioning the role of NATO’s nuclear deterrence’.2
Finland submitted a letter of intent to NATO in July 2022, declaring that it accepts ‘NATO’s approach to security and defence, including the essential role of nuclear weapons’ and that it is ‘willing to commit forces and capabilities for the full range of Alliance missions.’3
Finland attended as an observer the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, but did not make a statement.
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, it said: ‘Nuclear weapons pose a risk for every nation. A nuclear weapon detonation would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences. It is in our common interest to reduce risks for any nuclear weapon use – intended or unintended.’4
Recommendations
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Finland should renounce the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons on its behalf, and ensure that nuclear weapons do not have a role in its defence posture.
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Finland should comply with its existing obligation under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.
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Finland should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.