The obligation to remove foreign nuclear weapons

A total of at least 19 states are believed to have previously hosted foreign nuclear weapons, in some cases even without their knowledge.^{1, 2} Most nuclear hosting arrangements were put in place in the 1950s and 1960s, and the majority of the weapons were withdrawn after the Cold War.

Over the years, there have been several attempts by European policymakers to have the remaining nuclear weapons removed from their territory. Numerous non-governmental organizations have continued to advocate for removal. In Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands several political initiatives, involving parliamentary debates and motions, have also sought to achieve the removal of nuclear weapons. The Dutch parliament, in particular, has been vocal in its support of the removal of the US nuclear weapons on its territory and has adopted several motions explicitly calling on the government to do so.³

In 2022, poll results in Germany shifted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In May and June, a poll with over 1,300 respondents was conducted, where 52 per cent were in favour of keeping US nuclear weapons on German soil, including 12 per cent of respondents wanting modernisations and reinforcement.⁴ For the other hosting countries no new poll results were published in 2022.