Germany to Address U.S. Nuclear Weapons Withdrawal

The possible withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany will be discussed in NATO committee meetings, German Defense Minister Peter Struck said Friday (see GSN, May 3).

“I agree with Foreign Minister [Joschka] Fischer that we should take up this issue in NATO committees,” Struck said last week at the U.S. Air Force base in at Ramstein.

Fischer last week called requests by Germany’s ruling party for removal of U.S. nuclear weapons “a reasonable initiative,” Agence France-Presse reported. Moving forward with total withdrawal would require consultations with other European nations where U.S. nuclear weapons are stationed, Struck said.

There are an estimated 480 U.S. nuclear weapon in Europe; 150 of those are believed to be in Germany, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/DefenseNews.com, May 6).

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