Lithuania: Transnational Issues & International Disputes

Transnational Issues

Lithuania

Disputes - international:

in May 2003, the Russian Parliament ratified a 1997 land and maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, which had ratified the treaty in 1999, legalizing limits of former Soviet republic borders; the Latvian Parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil exploration rights; discussions are still ongoing among Russia, Lithuania, and the EU concerning a simplified transit document for residents of the Kaliningrad coastal exclave to transit through Lithuania to Russia

Illicit drugs:

transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe to Western Europe and Scandinavia; limited production of methamphetamine and ecstasy; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation