Lithuania parliament says 'yes' to lifting nuclear arms ban, in first of two votes

Lithuania's ​parliament on Tuesday voted ‌in favour ​of lifting a constitutional ban on nuclear arms in the country, ‌in a first of two ballots required for the change.

President Gitanas Nauseda in July said political parties had agreed on ‌a plan to lift the ban, in a ‌sign of how Russia is resetting security calculations in the region. The legal overhaul, which requires two-thirds majorities in two parliamentary votes to ⁠go ​into effect, ⁠is set to remove prohibitions put in place more than three decades ⁠ago after Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union.

On Tuesday, ​106 members of the 141-seat parliament voted in favour ⁠of the proposed change, with a second vote scheduled for January ⁠12. Nauseda ​has said there were no immediate plans to store nuclear weapons in Lithuania, but that removing the ⁠provision would let the country take action if the security ⁠situation changed.

Lithuania will ⁠remain a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Nauseda said in July.