A peace activist is suing the German government demanding US nuclear weapons be removed from a military base near her home, although their presence has never been confirmed, a court spokesman said on Thursday. Some 20 US nuclear warheads are thought to be stationed at a military base in the western town of Buechel, according to unofficial estimates.
The US embassy in Berlin said it does not comment on nuclear weapons in Germany. In the suit, activist Elke Koller said the nuclear weapons are in violation of Germany's constitutional "peace" commandment and she feels threatened by them, the Cologne administrative court said.
Koller also argued the nuclear weapons violated humanitarian law laid out by the International Court of Justice and Germany's obligation to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The government pushed back against Koller's arguments, telling the court an individual citizen was unable to force the government to remove all nuclear weapons and there was leeway within defence policy that allowed for the weapons.
The court is scheduled to reach a verdict in two weeks. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has been an outspoken opponent of the US nuclear arsenal on German soil, calling them "relics of the Cold War". The coalition agreement between Westerwelle's Free Democrats and Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives calls for the "remaining US nuclear weapons to be removed", but the conservative-led defence ministry has so far kept its support for nuclear deterrence.