Latvia would host NATO nuclear weapons if alliance decides, president says
President Edgars Rinkēvičs said Wednesday that Latvia has no legal barrier to hosting nuclear weapons if NATO collectively decided to deploy them.
Latvia would support deploying nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO decided to do so, President Edgars Rinkēvičs told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday, though he said no such talks are currently under way. He said Latvia's government and parliament would accept such a decision if NATO made it, and that the country faces no legal restriction preventing it.
Latvia has no constitutional or legal barrier to hosting nuclear weapons, Rinkēvičs said. That puts it in a different position from Lithuania, whose constitution currently bans weapons of mass destruction or foreign military bases on its territory; Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, passed a first vote this month to remove that ban.
Rinkēvičs said that when Latvia was preparing to join NATO in 2003, each member state confirmed it would face no restriction on taking part in the alliance's full collective security mechanism, including its nuclear deterrence system. Latvia already sits under NATO's nuclear umbrella, provided by the United States and the United Kingdom, he said.
Asked about a British offer of nuclear protection to members of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a coalition that includes the Baltic states, the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, Rinkēvičs said Latvia viewed additional security measures positively, while stressing that they remained part of NATO's wider policy.
The British offer was raised on Monday when Royal Navy Commander General Gwyn Jenkins visited Finland and met Heikki Autto, chair of the Finnish parliament's defence committee. Jenkins said Britain's commitment to the Joint Expeditionary Force had created new possibilities, and confirmed Finland would fall under a nuclear umbrella guaranteed by submarines patrolling the Atlantic, Autto told the Finnish news agency STT.
A new Joint Expeditionary Force combat unit, with its own wartime defence plans and the ability to respond immediately to a Russian threat, is due to be agreed in November, according to the reports. The force groups ten countries, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Sweden, in a rapid-reaction coalition for crises in the Far North and Northern Europe. It was created in 2014 at Britain's initiative after Russia's annexation of Crimea; Finland and Sweden joined in 2017, before they became NATO members.
What we know
- Latvia would support deploying nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO decided to, President Edgars Rinkēvičs said on Wednesday, though no such talks are under way.
- Rinkēvičs said Latvia has no legal barrier to hosting nuclear weapons, unlike Lithuania, whose constitution currently bans them; Lithuania's parliament passed a first vote this month to remove that ban.
- Latvia already sits under NATO's nuclear umbrella, provided by the US and UK, Rinkēvičs said.
- Britain's Royal Navy commander Gwyn Jenkins told Finland's parliamentary defence committee chair that Finland would fall under a nuclear umbrella guaranteed by Atlantic-patrolling submarines.
- A new Joint Expeditionary Force combat unit with its own wartime defence plans is due to be agreed in November.
Not yet confirmed
- The exact terms of the planned November Joint Expeditionary Force agreement have not been detailed.
Why it matters for Europe
Latvia's comments come alongside two other shifts on NATO's eastern and northern flank: Lithuania's parliament voting to drop its constitutional ban on hosting weapons of mass destruction, and Britain discussing an extended nuclear umbrella for Joint Expeditionary Force members including Finland. Rinkēvičs said Latvia already sits under the existing NATO nuclear umbrella provided by the US and UK, even before any new deployment decision.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 2 countries.
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Questions and answers
- Would Latvia host NATO nuclear weapons?
- President Rinkēvičs said Latvia has no legal barrier to hosting nuclear weapons and would accept a NATO decision to deploy them, though no such talks are under way.
- How is this different from Lithuania?
- Lithuania's constitution currently bans weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases; its parliament passed a first vote this month to remove that ban.
- What is the Joint Expeditionary Force?
- It is a ten-nation coalition, including the Baltic states, the UK and the Nordic countries, created in 2014 to provide rapid-reaction forces for crises in Northern Europe.
This article was written with AI assistance from 2 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.