Overview
- Top political leaders agreed on Thursday that Article 137, which bars weapons of mass destruction and foreign bases, should be repealed to remove legal constraints on hosting allied nuclear arms.
- The change is not immediate and must clear two separate two thirds votes in parliament with a three-month interval to become law, a process officials say could finish by the end of 2026.
- Officials stressed Lithuania has no current plan to acquire nuclear weapons and that talks with the United States about possible future hosting are reported to be ongoing.
- Government leaders cite a worsening security picture from Russia, including the nearby Kaliningrad exclave and Russian forces in Belarus, and point to rising defence spending and new infrastructure for allied units.
- Lithuania remains a party to the Nuclear Non‑Proliferation Treaty and has not ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and officials say removing the constitutional ban would not breach those treaty commitments.