German Politicians Call for Withdrawal of U.S. Nukes

Representatives from Germany’s ruling coalition and opposition parties called on the United States remove all its nuclear weapons from Europe, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday (see GSN, Feb. 9).

Washington could “send a message in Russia’s direction to revive the nonproliferation process,” Gert Weisskirchen, the foreign affairs spokesman for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats, told the Berliner Zeitung.

Guido Westerwelle, leader of the opposition Free Democrats, said the nuclear weapons in Europe were all relatively short-range, making them practically useless in targeting faraway enemy states.

About 480 U.S. nuclear weapons are stationed in Europe, according to AFP, with an estimated 150 of those in Germany (Agence France-Presse, May 2).

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