Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$230.8 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.9% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Lithuania
Disputes - international:
in 2003, the Lithuania-Russia land and maritime boundary treaty was
ratified and a transit regime established through Lithuania linking
Russia and its Kaliningrad coastal exclave, leaving only
improvements to the border demarcation in 2005; by 2004, a third of
the Belarus-Lithuania boundary had been demarcated; the Latvian
parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with
Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil; as a member state
that forms part of the EU's external border, Lithuania must
implement the strict Schengen border rules
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
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Luxembourg
Introduction Luxembourg
Background:
Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an
independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of
its territory to Belgium in 1839, but gained a larger measure of
autonomy. Full independence was attained in 1867. Overrun by Germany
in both World Wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered
into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following
year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries
of the European Economic Community (later the European Union), and
in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.