▲ Lithuanian soldiers (File photo)
Lithuania, one of the Baltic states in Europe bordering Russia, is pushing ahead with the removal of a constitutional clause that bans the deployment of nuclear weapons within its territory.
According to the BNS news agency on local time today (September 11), Juozas Olekas, Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, stated the previous day regarding the deletion of the clause, "Considering the planned legislative schedule and deadlines, we will need to extend the autumn session to pass this agenda."
This remark signals the intention to swiftly process the bill to repeal Article 137 of the Constitution, which stipulates that "weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases cannot be stationed on Lithuanian territory," jointly proposed by 50 Lithuanian lawmakers last July.
The Lithuanian Constitution can be amended through two votes held at a three-month interval, with each requiring the approval of at least two-thirds of the members of parliament.
The repeal bill passed its first reading with 89 votes in favor, 11 against, and 6 abstentions, and has also secured support from the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs.
BNS projected that the repeal bill would consequently be processed within this coming winter.
Speaker Olekas pointed out that this constitutional provision no longer reflects geopolitical reality, noting that it "makes Lithuania noticeably an outlier within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)."
He added, "The state's top priority is the maintenance of peace, and the core of this is securing deterrence, for which nuclear weapons are the most effective means."
On the same day, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned Lithuania in an interview with Channel One, stating, "The deployment of nuclear weapons is aimed at someone, and naturally this will be aimed not at the West, but at the East, that is, at us," and adding, "This will lead to a serious escalation of tension."
Peskov emphasized, "If nuclear weapons targeted at us are stationed on the territory of any country, that country's territory will also be placed in the crosshairs of our nuclear weapons."
Lithuania is sandwiched between Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave, and Belarus, an ally of Russia.
If the 65-kilometer land corridor known as the Suwalki Gap, which connects Kaliningrad and Belarus, is breached, the territories of the Baltic states—Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia—as well as Lithuania itself, would be cut off from NATO member states.
To reinforce its defense capabilities, Lithuania is stationing the German Armed Forces' 45th Panzer Brigade on its territory.
Finland, which shares a border of over 1,300 kilometers with Russia, also passed a bill in its parliament on June 17 to abolish regulations banning nuclear weapons.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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