💢 Lithuania’s Seimas has approved, in the first of two required votes, a constitutional amendment repealing Article 137, which prohibits weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, and foreign military bases on Lithuanian territory. What is known so far:

▪️Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas said repealing the provision would remove security restrictions that distinguish Lithuania from other EU and NATO states;

▪️The amendment would delete Article 137 of the Constitution, which prohibits weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, from being stationed in Lithuania;

▪️The same article also prohibits foreign military bases;

▪️Vilnius is seeking a permanent US military presence in Lithuania;

▪️106 MPs voted in favor of the amendment, 18 against and 6 abstained;

▪️A second vote is required after a three-month interval for the constitutional amendment to enter into force;

▪️The second vote is scheduled for January 12;

▪️Lithuanian authorities have said they are ready to host a permanent US military base, Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said;

▪️Since 2019, a US heavy battalion of roughly 1,000 troops equipped with Abrams tanks, Bradley IFVs and Paladin artillery systems had been deployed in Lithuania on a rotational basis;

▪️The US presence was moved toward an uninterrupted rotational model in 2024, but the battalion was withdrawn from Lithuania in June 2026.

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