According to the NATO Secretary-General, American nuclear weapons may end up in Eastern Europe if Germany refuses to deploy them on its territory.

American nuclear weapons may end up in Eastern Europe if Germany refuses to deploy them on its territory. This was stated by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking on Friday at a conference organized by the German Atlantic Society and the Federal Academy of Security Policy.

“I expect that Germany will continue to be part of the system of joint use of nuclear weapons, this is very important for the whole of Europe, this is a multilateral format. An alternative to the joint use of NATO nuclear weapons is bilateral agreements. Of course, Germany has to decide whether [foreign] nuclear weapons will be deployed in this country, but the alternative to this could easily be that nuclear weapons could end up in other European countries, in particular to the east of Germany,” he said.

Stoltenberg also said that NATO “supports a world without nuclear weapons, but cannot allow NATO states not to have nuclear weapons, while other countries would have them.” He also welcomed the negotiations between Russia and the United States on strategic stability, including on the Treaty on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

The NATO Nuclear Weapons Sharing System creates a legal basis for the deployment of American nuclear weapons in non-nuclear European member states of the alliance within the framework of the alliance’s general concept of nuclear deterrence.

Bombs in a nuclear-free Germany

According to the third provision of the Final Settlement Agreement with respect to Germany, which entered into force on March 15, 1991, Germany refused to produce, possess and dispose of atomic, biological, and chemical weapons. By the end of June 1991, the USSR had withdrawn all military nuclear components from the territory of the former GDR.

However, U.S. nuclear weapons continue to remain in Germany as part of NATO’s strategic concept of intimidating potential adversaries. Up to 20 American tactical nuclear bombs B61, according to unconfirmed reports, are located at an air base near Buchel.