Ex-PM says U.S. nuclear weapons stored in Netherlands

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some 22 U.S. nuclear weapons are stored in Dutch territory, the ex-PM of the Netherlands, Ruud Lubbers, said, according to BBC News.

Lubbers, Prime Pinister from 1982-94, said they were stored underground in strong-rooms at the Volkel air base in Brabant. He made the revelation in a documentary for National Geographic - saying: "I would never have thought those silly things would still be there in 2013."

The presence of nuclear weapons on Dutch soil has long been rumored. However, Lubbers is believed to be the most senior person to confirm their existence.

"I think they are an absolutely pointless part of a tradition in military thinking," Lubbers said.

The Telegraaf newspaper quoted experts saying the weapons held at Volkel were B61 bombs - developed in the U.S. in the 1960s.

The Dutch broadcaster NOS quoted a spokesman for the Royal Dutch Air Force saying these issues "are never spoken of".

"He, as former prime minister, knows that well," he added.