‘US has 200 nuclear weapons in Europe’

Press TV – February 17, 2011 – The United States currently has 200 nuclear warheads in six bases among five European countries, a report says.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says the countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany host 10 to 20 nuclear weapons each, while a total of over 100 warheads are stocked in Italy and Turkey.

Some European countries including the Netherlands and Germany are calling for an end to the storage of the weapons in the continent.

Germany brought up the issue in the NATO Summit meetings of Heads of State and Government in Lisbon, Portugal last November, but there no result was achieved then.

On the other hand, the NATO members, to cut on the number of their warheads, have laid down a condition: that Russia cut down on its tactical nuclear weapons.

Russia and the United States, following the new START Treaty early February, agreed on reducing only their strategic nuclear weapons; whereas, nothing concerning tactical nuclear weapons was agreed on.

The United States, in 1952, started storing tactical weapons in Europe, the number of which reached 7300 in 1971. Ever since, however, there has been a gradual decrease in the number of them.

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