Lithuanian parliament to consider removing constitutional ban on weapons of mass destruction

Lithuania’s parliament will on Tuesday consider an amendment to remove the constitutional ban on weapons of mass destruction in the country, LRT reported.

A simple majority of the lawmakers attending the sitting will be enough to approve the bill after its consideration. To adopt the constitutional amendment, however, parliament would then have to vote twice, with a three-month interval between the votes. At least 94 of the 141 members would have to support it.

In early July, parliament approved the proposal at its initial presentation to amend Article 137 of the Constitution by removing the provision banning the deployment of nuclear weapons in Lithuania.

The Constitution currently states that weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases may not be located on Lithuanian territory.

Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas has said the provision no longer reflects geopolitical reality. He said Lithuania’s priority in the current situation was to preserve peace, and that deterrence was important to achieving this, with nuclear weapons providing the greatest effectiveness.

Olekas said Lithuania, because of the constitutional restriction, “looks like a white crow in the NATO context.”

The initial initiative to amend the Constitution was signed by about 50 lawmakers from almost all parliamentary factions. No politician from the opposition Nemunas Dawn party supported the proposal.

Debate over deploying nuclear weapons has also been encouraged by an idea presented in March by French President Emmanuel Macron to create a new European nuclear deterrence arrangement. Under the proposal, partner countries could temporarily host France’s strategic air forces carrying nuclear weapons.

The Financial Times reported in early June that the United States was considering deploying nuclear weapons in several additional NATO countries in Europe.