Latvia's parliament on Thursday ratified a border treaty with Russia that is expected to improve the sometimes fraught relations between the ex-Soviet neighbors. The treaty was ratified in the 100-member legislature by a vote of 75-20, with five abstentions. Latvia and Russian leaders signed the border agreement in March, a deal that had been delayed by competing territorial claims over a small swathe of land _ known as the Pytalovo district to the Russians, and Abrene to Latvians _ that was seized by the Soviet Union after World War II. In accordance with the treaty, Latvia gives up all territorial claims over the district, which had been part of an independent Latvia between the first and second world wars. Russia's parliament has yet to ratify the treaty. Lithuania signed a border treaty with Russia in 1997, while Estonia and Russia have failed to reach a deal on their land and sea borders. The three small Baltic states split away from the Soviet Union in 1991 and joined the EU and NATO in 2004, according to a report of the Associated Press.
