Lithuania poised to lift nuclear weapon hosting ban
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The leaders of Lithuania's political parties have agreed in principle to amend the country's constitution to allow it to host nuclear weapons in the future, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said on July 2.
Article 137 of Lithuania's constitution, which forbids weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases, is increasingly seen as outdated as Vilnius seeks the defensive benefits of hosting German soldiers, and France mulls extending its nuclear umbrella across Europe.
"Opinions were practically unanimous. Almost all parliamentary faction leaders expressed the view that Article 137 has become obsolete and should not merely be amended but removed," Nauseda told journalists, as reported by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.
The next step is for politicians to decide whether to make the change via a parliamentary vote, as Finland did, or hold a referendum.
Nauseda highlighted the urgency, saying "it would be truly unfortunate if we became the weak link or a grey zone within NATO."
But Lithuania is proving to be anything but a weak link in NATO, with the country spending 4% of its GDP on defense in 2025, second only to Poland, according to the alliance's yearly expenditure report.
The Baltic country also hosts a NATO multinational battlegroup, at the center of which is the permanent presence of up to 5,000 German soldiers.
However, Lithuania sits in a nuclear neighborhood, with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus both hosting nuclear-capable weapons.
The next step could be for Vilnius to follow suit, with viable options coming from both the U.S., which the Financial Times reports is considering deployments to Europe's eastern flank, and countries such as Norway, which is beginning to accept France's offer of nuclear protection.
