Lithuania is planning to repeal constitutional restrictions that bar nuclear weapons and foreign military bases from its territory, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said.

Nausėda said the initiative followed discussions with parliamentary party leaders and reflected broad political agreement that the constitutional provisions are outdated. He argued that Lithuania’s constitution was written when the geopolitical environment was very different, and that “the geopolitical situation is getting worse.”

The change would require major legal revisions and will need two-thirds majorities in two parliamentary votes to pass. Nausėda said there are no immediate plans to store nuclear weapons in Lithuania, but removing the ban would allow the country to respond if the security situation changes.

Lithuania is a NATO member and shares land borders with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and with Belarus. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Lithuania has increased defence spending, upgraded its armed forces, strengthened borders, and plans to host a combat-ready German brigade permanently in 2027 to deter possible attacks.

The announcement comes months after NATO ally Finland said it would repeal a decades-old legal ban on nuclear weapons, after joining NATO in 2023. Lithuania’s constitutional nuclear ban is described as among the strictest of its kind among NATO allies.