Lithuania ratifies key ASEAN treaty, deepening ties with Southeast Asia
Lithuania's parliament has ratified the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, formally aligning the country with ASEAN and paving the way for closer partnership.
Lithuania's parliament has ratified the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the founding diplomatic framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bringing the country into formal alignment with the bloc.
The Foreign Ministry said accession would allow Lithuania to deepen its partnership with ASEAN as an organisation and with its individual member states, while raising the country's profile in the region. Lithuania applied to join the treaty last year following government approval.
The treaty, signed in Bali in 1976, aims to promote peace, stability and cooperation in economic, trade, social, technical and scientific fields across Southeast Asia, as well as to prevent conflicts and strengthen regional security. It was later opened to non-regional states; the European Union acceded in 2012.
ASEAN was founded in 1967 and comprises ten member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The bloc represents a combined population of around 700 million people and one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions.
