A world without nuclear weapons is a goal that must be strived for. Even though we are now under NATO’s nuclear umbrella, Finland still needs to continue its efforts towards disarmament, writes Enqvist.
Kari Enqvist Professor Emeritus of Cosmology, author
The Oppenheimer film now playing in theaters has become a phenomenon. It hits the nerve of the time when it tells about the development and detonation of the first nuclear bomb in New Mexico, USA, in 1945.
The demon of nuclear war unleashed there materialized over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It scared the world so much that they hardly even dared to utter its name.
Almost eight decades passed like this. We hunkered down and were careful. Then Russia invaded Ukraine.
After that Russia has hinted and threatened with its nuclear weapons in a way that has never been experienced before.
For example, ex-president Medvedev is constantly managed to remind the world from the nuclear destruction that threatens it. According to him Russia would have to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine succeeds in its counterattack.
On Russian television, the debaters have been hemorrhaging with mass destruction like teenage boys watching porn. One blow to France and everything would be over, was drooled in January in a program that also included a member of the Duma. When someone reminded that France has a nuclear weapon, it was immediately figured out that an attack could be made on nuclear-weapon-free Finland, which at that time had not yet joined NATO.
This kind of talk is outrageous, regardless of whether vodka had a part in it. Although the local conversational culture is brash, it’s worth remembering that nothing is said in Russian tea without the Kremlin’s blessing.
How would it sound if in A-Studio Finnish MPs and military experts had fun with the atomic bombing of St. Petersburg? Such speech is not even heard in the United States.
Placing nuclear weapons in Finland would not make strategic sense.
At the same time, we are worried about the deployment of nuclear weapons NATO-Finland. It is opposed. It seems that those who are disappointed with NATO are especially active. The wound-healing victory is sure, because no one is keeping Finland’s nuclear weapons. That would make no strategic sense.
Russia is destroying Ukraine from a distance of hundreds of kilometers. The United States is also capable of firing its nuclear missiles from far outside Finland’s borders. You don’t need Finnish soil for that.
Finland’s nuclear disarmament would not mean the nuclear disarmament of Northern Europe. Russia’s nuclear arsenal can be found in the vicinity of Finland in Kaliningrad, Murmansk and a base located a few hundred kilometers south of St. Petersburg.
A world without nuclear weapons is the goal, towards which we must strive. Even though we are now under NATO’s nuclear umbrella, Finland still needs to continue its efforts towards disarmament. The destructive power of nuclear weapons is so enormous that their number must be reduced to a minimum and preferably to zero.
At the moment, however, the biggest threat to humanity is not nuclear weapons in general, but Russia’s nuclear weapons.
Shaking them is obsceneeven if we are only talking about those used on the battlefield of tactical nuclear weapons. They too are easily in the class of the Hiroshima bomb, which killed two hundred thousand people.
A tactical nuclear bomb aims to destroy the enemy’s command centers or military equipment. Therefore, it is typically detonated close to the ground. This creates a radioactive dust and ash cloud that can contaminate the air, soil and water for a long time to come.
The situation in Hiroshima was a little different. There, the bomb was detonated high in the air and the radioactive fallout caused no casualties. Radiation sickness was the result of direct exposure to the gamma rays and neutrons generated by the explosion.
Radioactive pollution is not felt Russian leadership to worry about. It wants Ukraine for itself, even if it is destroyed. There is an imperial counter-strike going on, the restoration of the Soviet Union. During the first days of the war, we saw images of tanks advancing towards Kiev with the red flag of the Soviet Union flying on their turrets.
The hammer and sickle have become symbols of Russo-fascism. Because it’s shocking to see those in demonstrations calling for nuclear disarmament, such as for example in connection with President Biden’s visit to Finland.
They disgrace every peace march. They smear the well-intentioned sentences written on the signs like a swastika flag in an anti-racism procession. I can’t imagine joining a group where the red flag of the Soviet Union is going crazy. I don’t understand how anyone else can in this world situation.
Kari Enqvist
The author is an emeritus professor of cosmology at the University of Helsinki and a writer. He is interested in man’s place in the universe and everything that is moving or wonderful.
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