Foreign relations of Lithuania

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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.

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[edit] Relations with other countries

Lithuania has established diplomatic relations with 149 countries.[1]

[edit] Baltic States

Lithuania is in warm and good relations between Latvia and Estonia. Latvia takes the 1st place on the list of Lithuanian investments abroad.[2]

[edit] Poland

Relations with Poland are now among the closest enjoyed by Lithuania, while they were very strained in the interwar period.

[edit] Iceland

Iceland was the first country which recognised Lithuania's Independence from USSR on January 11, 1991, and the first one which re-established relations with it on August 26, 1991.[3]

[edit] USA

Lithuania has good relations and support with USA[citation needed]. President of the USA, George Walker Bush, visited Lithuania in November, 2002.[4]

[edit] Japan

Relations between Lithuania and Japan started on December 20, 1922, when Lithuania was recognized by Japan de jure.[5][6] In 1939 the Consulate of Japan, headed by vice-consul Chiune Sugihara, was opened in Kaunas.

On September 6, 1991, Japan recognized the independence of the Republic of Lithuania from USSR and on October 10, Diplomatic relations were restored .

In 1997, Embassy of Japan was established in Lithuania, in 1998, Embassy of Lithuania was established in Japan. Bilateral relations were strengthen by the official state visit of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in 2007 May.[7]

In 2005 the Lithuanian Community in Japan was established. It has 45 members.

[edit] 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 [8]
  • In October 2006, Russia's FSB security service arrested an official in the Kaliningrad region accused of spying for Lithuania [9]

[edit] Illicit drug trafficking

[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 [11]

[edit] Anti-terrorism

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

[edit] Civil rights

  • No serious problems found by international organizations [13] [14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs: List of countries with which Lithuania has established diplomatic relations
  2. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Lithuania's Cooperation with Latvia
  3. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Lithuania’s Cooperation with Iceland
  4. ^ White House Photos
  5. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Lithuania's Cooperation with Japan
  6. ^ Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Tokyo: Bilateral relations
  7. ^ Japan's Emperor Akihit, Empress Michiko visit Lithuania. International Herald Tribune (2007-05-26). Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  8. ^ Russian military aircraft crashes near Kaunas
  9. ^ Russian arrest of an officer accused of spying for Lithuania
  10. ^ Drug issues in the Baltics
  11. ^ Human Trafficking in the Baltics
  12. ^ Interpol
  13. ^ Amnesty International - Lithuania
  14. ^ US Department of State report on human rights in Lithuania
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