Belgium

NATO’s nuclear weapons policy dates from the Cold War. During this period, the NATO countries saw the need for a nuclear deterrent that would compensate for their inferiority in conventional weapons vis-à-vis the Warsaw Pact. This extended deterrence policy also included the stationing of US nuclear weapons in Western Europe. In the midst of the Cold War – between 1954 and 1963 – US nuclear weapons were sent to eight European states, including Belgium. The US-Belgian bilateral agreement for cooperation regarding mutual defense was signed by the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paul-Henri Spaak on 17 May 1962, and entered into force on 5 September 1962. The first US nuclear weapons arrived in Belgium in November 1963.1 Belgium has been a part of NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group since its creation in 1967. Since this time, the Belgian government has guarded its privileges in this regard. Although Spaak had promised during preparations for the agreement that the Belgian Parliament would be consulted before nuclear weapons were stationed on Belgian soil, these consultations never took place.2