In Lithuania, parliament moved toward lifting the constitutional ban on nuclear weapons

Following a discussion on September 22 the Lithuanian Parliament approved a proposal to repeal the constitutional amendment banning nuclear weapons, which provides for removing the ban on having weapons of mass destruction on the country's territory. This was reported on the website of the Lithuanian Parliament, UNN writes.

Details

"Following the discussion, the Seimas approved an amendment to the Constitution providing for the repeal of the provision that weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases may not be located on the territory of Lithuania," the statement said.

Following the discussion, 99 members of the Seimas voted in favor of the amendment, 13 voted against, and 5 abstained.

According to the Statute of the Seimas, after the procedure for adopting constitutional amendments begins, the Seimas will have to vote twice more, with an interval of at least 3 months between the votes. A bill amending the Constitution is considered adopted by the Seimas if at least 2/3 of all Seimas members—94 parliamentarians—vote in favor of it in each ballot.

According to Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas, quoted by LRT, the first vote on adopting the constitutional amendment is scheduled for October 6, and final adoption for January 12 of the following year.

Olekas, the author of the draft, said that Lithuania's security environment, the country's international position, and the means of ensuring national security had changed fundamentally since the Constitution was adopted. "NATO's nuclear deterrence is one of the most important parts of the Alliance's collective defense architecture. The purpose of NATO's nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent nuclear blackmail and coercion, and ensure credible deterrence." This deterrence system, as part of collective defense, has been in operation for many decades and is one of the most important factors reducing the risk of large-scale aggression against the Alliance," the Seimas speaker said.

According to Olekas, the security situation in Europe has changed significantly in recent years, while Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the escalation of nuclear rhetoric, the modernization of nuclear capabilities, and the strengthening of military infrastructure in countries neighboring Lithuania, including the Kaliningrad region and Belarus, make it necessary to ensure that Lithuania's ability to fully participate in NATO's deterrence system is not restricted.

As Remigijus Motuzas, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said at a Seimas meeting, the vast majority of NATO countries have no restrictions. "Our neighboring countries, such as Latvia, Estonia, and Poland, also have no restrictions. Lithuania must clearly demonstrate to its allies and adversaries that it will defend its independence by all means. We cannot be less protected than other NATO countries. We must send a signal that Lithuania is a full-fledged part of NATO's nuclear deterrence," he emphasized.

Currently, Article 137 of the Constitution provides that weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases may not be located in Lithuania.

The amendment under consideration in the Lithuanian Seimas proposes simply to repeal this provision.

Supplement

Discussions about the deployment of nuclear weapons, as LRT notes, are fueled in part by an idea presented in March by French President Emmanuel Macron to create a new European nuclear deterrence arrangement under which partners could temporarily deploy French strategic air forces equipped with nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of June, the Financial Times reported that the United States was considering the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in several additional NATO countries in Europe.