Finland signs agreements to join France's nuclear deterrence initiative

The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, and his Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, signed agreements enabling Finland, to join the "advanced" nuclear deterrence scheme proposed by France.

Finland is the tenth European partner to join the plan to access France's nuclear stockpile to bolster security on the continent, which was launched earlier this year by Emmanuel Macron. Finnish President Alexander Stubb confirmed the decision on social media, saying it was "first and foremost about strengthening European security". He stressed that the French nuclear deterrent would not "replace or overlap" with NATO's. "Finland's foremost priority is to act as part of NATO and the European Union," he added.