Major European country sends huge nuke warning to Russia as invasion fears soar

Lithuania has agreed to remove a constitutional provision prohibiting the deployment of nuclear weapons in the country. President Gitanas Nausėda said the move was agreed upon by top politicians following a meeting with the leaders of parliamentary factions.

Currently, Article 137 of the Constitution states that weapons of mass destruction and military bases of foreign states are not allowed on the territory of Lithuania. Mr Nausėda called this “outdated”, saying it could not be reformed and must instead be completely scrapped.

He said: “Opinions practically coincided, the leaders of almost all factions expressed the view that Article 137 has become outdated and that it does not even need to be changed, but rather should be deleted.

“Opinions differed somewhat on the form itself, how this should be achieved. A representative of Nemunas Aušra said that perhaps this should be done through a referendum.

“This would be an even longer path. In our opinion, since the members of the Seimas received a mandate of trust from the voters, they can make this decision.”

The Lithuanian President added that his country was one of the last remaining NATO allies to have such a ban, pointing to a recent rule change by Finland.

Finland also removed a ban on nuclear weapons after the Parliament approved amendments to the Nuclear Energy Act and the Criminal Code, which prohibited the import, manufacture, possession and detonation of nukes.

After the vote, 125-61 in favour of the reforms, nuclear explosives will be regulated only in the Criminal Code.

This will determine which nuclear weapons can be imported into Finland, for example, if they’re needed for the country’s military, NATO, or defence cooperation.

Mr Nausėda added: “Finland, whose ban was enshrined not in the Constitution but in law, recently lifted such a ban, and today finds itself in a kind of grey zone within NATO itself.

“It would be really disappointing if we were a weak link or a grey area within NATO.”

This comes amid growing concerns in Lithuania over the threat from Russia. Last month, Mr Nausėda and the prime minister were forced to seek refuge in underground bunkers after an unmanned aircraft entered the country’s airspace.

Officials then reached out to Ukrainian defence manufacturers and civil protection specialists to discuss procuring bomb shelters, the head of a leading Ukrainian defence industry body told POLITICO.