ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the case of Lithuania’s accession into the Union in May 2004. The result of Lithuania’s referendum on EU membership was by far the most comfortable one among the three Baltic states and remarkable even within WKHZKROH&((,Q0D\SHUFHQWRIWKRVHZKRYRWHGDFFHSWHGPHPEHUVKLS6XFKDKLJKOHYHORISXEOLFVXSSRUWLVDOOWKHPRUHVLJQL¿FDQWLQOLJKWRIWKH fact that, in contradistinction to Estonia and Latvia, practically the whole of the country’s adult population was entitled to vote. Lithuania lacks a large group of mainly Russophone non-citizens, or citizens of Russia, in the way that Estonia and Latvia have. Lithuania’s Russophone contingent constitutes just around 10 SHUFHQWDQG3ROHVDERXWSHUFHQWRIWKHFRXQWU\¶VSRSXODWLRQRIPLOOLRQ7KH different demographic composition of Lithuania implies that, in connection to the country’s EU accession, the Union encounters somewhat different issues from the security concerns associated with Estonia’s and Latvia’s initially slow start in integrating their Russophone minorities.
