Lithuanian authorities seek to host nuclear arms to position themselves on front line — MP

KALININGRAD, October 8. /TASS/. Lithuania’s leadership is obsessed with positioning the country on the front line of a confrontation with NATO’s "enemies." Against this backdrop, Vilnius’s plans to allow the deployment of nuclear weapons send an alarming signal that it intends to move from rhetoric to action, Yevgeny Mishin, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International and Interregional Relations, Security, and Law and Order, told TASS.

On October 6, it was reported that Lithuania’s Seimas had voted to lift the country’s constitutional ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons. The parliamentary resolution calls for the repeal of Article 137 of the Constitution, which prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, on Lithuanian territory. The article also bans the presence of foreign military bases. Vilnius is currently seeking to have the United States station a military base in the country.

During the parliamentary plenary session, 106 lawmakers voted to repeal the constitutional provision, 18 voted against and six abstained.

"We can be absolutely certain that Lithuania will go to any lengths to position itself at the forefront - on the very first line of defense - of efforts to contain the North Atlantic Alliance’s alleged ‘enemies.’ That is why they are moving from rhetoric to action. Naturally, this is an alarming signal for us, including because of the potential environmental impact," Mishin told TASS.

"We fully understand that the Lithuanians will be used without their consent; however, they are obsessed with the idea of fighting ‘invisible enemies’ and are adopting restrictive measures and various sanctions packages against Russia, specifically targeting the Kaliningrad Region," he added.

Mishin said he found it difficult to imagine a civilized state voluntarily seeking to host nuclear weapons or foreign military units and bases on its territory. Yet Lithuania has chosen precisely such a historical role for itself.

The Kaliningrad Region is a Russian semi-exclave separated from the rest of the country by the territory of European Union member states. EU sanctions restrict the overland transit of certain goods to the region, while rail shipments of sanctioned cargo are permitted only within quotas established by the EU.

To prevent shortages in the Kaliningrad Region, Russian authorities have shifted some cargo shipments to maritime routes through neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, increasing the number of freight ferries operating on the Ust-Luga-Kaliningrad route.

Rhetoric concerning potential measures against the Russian region has intensified in recent months, with some foreign media reports discussing the possibility of an economic or territorial blockade of the Kaliningrad Region.