"Most European military sites equipped with US nuclear weapons fail to meet Pentagon security requirements, according to a US Air Force study." reports Reuters:
Hans Kristensen, director of the [Federation of American Scientists'] Nuclear Information Project, said the security problems occurred at installations operated by the national militaries of Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy, all NATO members. About 200 to 350 nuclear weapons are believed to be stored at the sites.
"What's really going on here is that the United States has changed its standards (since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States), but NATO has not followed and it's at the national bases we're seeing this problem," Kristensen said on Monday.
"In a way, it's the United States knocking on NATO's door and saying: 'C'mon, guys, you need to upgrade, too.'"
Though, rather than calling for such security upgrades of military sites, many German politicians call for the removal of US nuclear weapons from German soil. Our reader Zyme writes this guest post:
While arguable many of the transatlantic remains of the Cold War have vanished over the course of the last decade, one has remained: American Nuclear Weapons in Germany. Now this one has come under fire, too. German opposition parties demand the removal of nuclear weapons from German soil. [...] There is not just discomfort among the parties traditionally critical towards American influence, like the Green and the Left Party. Also among the supporters of a removal of such weaponry is the progressive and libertarian FDP. Its endorsement is a surprise, as the FDP is a traditionally pro-American and pro-NATO party. FDP-Boss Westerwelle is quoted "This nuclear weaponry in Germany is a holdover of the Cold War and needs to go". According to him, security issues are just another reason to remove these weapons, writes Der Spiegel (in German).
Furthermore the initiative seems to be gaining "sympathizers" among the moderately left-wing SPD, which is part of the governing 'Grand Coalition' in Berlin. This party has been trapped by a struggle for interior leadership now for months and its stance has become rather unpredictable lately.
Strongly against this proposal as the only established political power argues the other part of the 'Grand Coalition', the conservatives from CDU and CSU. In their point of view, withdrawing Germany from the so-called "nuclear participation" would enable future nuclear powers to take Germany hostage.
Related posts in the Atlantic Review:
United States Apparently Removes Nuclear Weapons from German Base Ramstein
Contemplating Germany with Nukes
A World Free of Nuclear Weapons?
Air Force Incompetence: Oops, What Are These Nukes Doing Here?