🇱🇹 Lithuania moves to scrap its constitutional ban on nuclear weapons and foreign military bases

On September 22, the Seimas backed a proposal to remove Article 137 from the Constitution by 99 votes to 13, with 5 abstentions. The article bans weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases on Lithuanian territory.

Two formal votes remain, on October 6 and January 12, 2027. Each requires at least 94 of 141 lawmakers.

Speaker Juozas Olekas, the author of the amendment, insists Vilnius does not plan to host nuclear weapons in peacetime. He says the change would only allow action if the security situation changes. Back in July, President Nausėda complained that Lithuania is effectively the only NATO state to have imposed on itself an "absolute ban with no exceptions."

Yet in June, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas already confirmed that Vilnius is in classified talks with Washington on stationing US nuclear weapons in Lithuania. The country borders Kaliningrad and Belarus.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics