Nuclear submarines in the Arctic. New bases near Finland. Europe’s northern flank is heating up.
Russia is reinforcing its nuclear and military infrastructure in the Arctic, including building new facilities near the Finnish border, Finland’s defence minister has warned.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Antti Häkkänen said Moscow is expanding its presence around the Kola Peninsula — a region that hosts much of Russia’s sea-based strategic nuclear arsenal and long-range aviation assets.
“Russia has most of their biggest strategic capabilities in nuclear, submarines, long-range bombers in the Kola Peninsula area,” Häkkänen said, adding that new facilities are being constructed along Finland’s border “same as the Cold War.”
The Kola Peninsula, spanning roughly 100,000 square kilometres, remains central to Russia’s Arctic posture. Finland, which joined NATO after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has since emphasized strengthening deterrence in the High North.
Häkkänen welcomed NATO’s renewed focus on Arctic security, including the launch of Arctic Sentry, an enhanced vigilance activity aimed at boosting allied coordination in the region. Still, he suggested the Arctic should have been prioritized much earlier.
Finland has positioned itself as a key Arctic defence actor, with forces trained for extreme northern conditions. Helsinki recently secured approval for €1 billion in EU defence loans to strengthen land forces, including investments in armoured vehicles and drones.
While discussions in Europe have intensified about strengthening a continental nuclear deterrent — with France and the United Kingdom exploring broader coordination — Häkkänen stressed that U.S. support remains indispensable.
“In the short term, and even mid-term, we need the U.S.,” he said, describing Washington as “ironclad committed” to NATO’s Article 5 collective defence guarantee.
As Arctic competition intensifies and geopolitical tensions deepen, Finland’s warning underscores a broader shift: Europe’s northern frontier is once again a strategic fault line.
