Finland — the beautiful land of Jan Sibelius, the Northern Lights, a top-flight educational system, great seafood, and the official home of Santa Claus — has just announced the lifting of its decades-long ban on nuclear weapons.

And the world is a little bit sadder today.

It is sad because the nation voted the happiest country in the world was forced to make this decision by its neighbor, Russia — with whom it shares an 833-mile border — invading its air space; establishing some 130 military installations capable of housing 2,000 troops in Kamenka, about 35 miles from the border; and now constructing a new military base, also just miles from the border, with a capacity for up to 6,000 military personnel. [Anthony Blair, New York Post, June 17, 2026.]

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen has announced that the Parliament voted 125-to-61 on Wednesday to facilitate the movement of nuclear weapons on its territory, reversing its 1987 ban that prohibited the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of any such explosives within its borders. Hakkanen wrote on X that:

“This historic reform strengthens the security of Finland and of NATO as a whole.” [Id.]

Earlier this year, he had argued that the existing nuclear restrictions no longer reflected the geopolitical realities of the country, which became a member of NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Id.]

But such is the world we live in . . . a world in which a handful of tyrants call the shots for eight billion people who only want to live in peace and relative comfort. And thus it has always been.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/19/26