Foreign relations of Lithuania

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Lithuania

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Lithuania

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Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on September 18, 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on May 31, 2001. It also seeks membership in the OECD and other Western organizations.

Lithuania maintains foreign diplomatic missions in 94 countries on six continents and consular posts in two countries that are not represented by an embassy. Lithuania's liberal "zero-option" citizenship law has substantially erased tensions with its neighbors. Lithuania's suspension of two strongly ethnic Polish district councils on charges of blocking reform or disloyalty during the August 1991 coup had cooled relations with Poland, but bilateral cooperation markedly increased with the holding of elections in those districts and the signing of a bilateral Friendship Treaty in 1994. Relations with Poland are now among the closest enjoyed by Lithuania. Although a similar bilateral friendship agreement was signed with Belarus in 1995, Lithuania has joined the United States and other European nations in urging the Government of Belarus to adopt democratic and economic reforms.

Contents 1 International Disputes 1.1 Latvia 1.2 Russia 1.3 Illicit drug trafficking 1.4 Human trafficking 2 Anti-terrorism 3 Civil rights 4 References

[edit] International Disputes

[edit] Latvia

• Talks continue over a maritime boundary dispute with Latvia, primarily concerning oil exploration rights

[edit] Russia

• There are ongoing popular demands to formally condemn the crimes committed by the Soviet regime
• In 2005, a fighter aircraft accompanying a Russian spy plane over the Baltic Sea violated Lithuanian airspace for about 20 minutes before crashing near Kaunas ^[1]
• In October 2006, Russia's FSB security service arrested an official in the Kaliningrad region accused of spying for Lithuania ^[2]

[edit] Illicit drug trafficking

• Lithuania has been a transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Russia, Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe to Western Europe and Scandinavia^[3]

[edit] Human trafficking

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that about 1,000 citizens of Lithuania fall victim to trafficking annually. Most are women between the ages of 21 and 30 who are sold into prostitution ^[4]

[edit] Anti-terrorism

Lithuania is a signatory to 8 of the 12 International Conventions related to counter- terrorist activities ^[5]

[edit] Civil rights

• No serious problems found by international organizations ^{[6] [7]}

[edit] References