Amid discussions of extending the French nuclear deterrent to European allies, Lithuania’s Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė says changes to the consistution may be necessary in order to deploy nuclear weapons in the country.
“We believe we need to look into the possibility of adjusting Article 137 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania if our allies propose realistic plans for the deployment of nuclear weapons or their components in Lithuania, and also to review other commitments,” she told a press conference at the Military Academy in Vilnius on Friday.
Article 137 of the Constitution states that “there may not be any weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that Paris was considering extending the country’s nuclear deterrent to include its European partners.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda later thanked Macron for this proposal and was assured that an adviser to the French resident would come to Lithuania to provide more details on this idea.
“At this moment, we do not have any concrete proposals from the allies, because the ideas that have been expressed politically have not yet been developed in any way, but we believe that we need to be prepared for any options, so my position as minister of defence is that we should initiate a deeper discussion and assessment of this issue,” said Šakalienė.
“It is clear that we cannot have any changes [to the constitution], because this would be getting ahead of our allies who have only mentioned it at the level of political ideas, but we should make an assessment on our side if the plans move forward, we would have to be prepared on our side,” she said.
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