New NATO member Finland has been advised to maintain its prohibition in place on the importation, manufacturing, possession and detonation of nuclear explosives in a fresh report.
In the report, which assessed the role of nuclear weapons and the associated security risks for Finland given its new membership status, the Nuclear Weapons Monitoring Group, whose members range from anti-nuclear weapons activists to military researchers, urged the Nordic country to adopt a cautious approach towards NATO's nuclear weapons drills, including participation in them.
It also urged Finland to stay true to its long-standing goal of promoting nuclear disarmament despite joining NATO.
The independent monitoring group's members include veteran Social Democrat and former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja as well as numerous researchers from institutions such as Helsinki University's Aleksanteri Institute, which specializes in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies, as well as the National Defence University.
Earlier, the Finnish Defence Ministry said it will participate in the the Western military alliance's nuclear planning and support operations, while deciding against stationing nuclear arms on its soil, a pledge reiterated by the country's president, Sauli Niinisto.
Finland applied to join NATO together with Sweden last year, citing a change in Europe's security landscape and abandoning their long-standing non-alignment policy. It formally entered the alliance earlier this year, whereas its neighbor Sweden still waits for Hungary and Turkey to unblock its accession.
Russia denounced the move as "encroachment on its security and national interests," vowing to take "countermeasures to ensure its tactical and strategic security."
Having just joined NATO, Finland has "coincidentally" recorded its highest year-on-year spike in defense spending since 1962, the height of the Cold War. Overall, the Nordic country's military expenditure has risen from 1.3 percent to 2 percent of its GDP within several years, due to a number of costly purchases such as a brand new fleet of US-made F-35 jets.