(VILNIUS) - The former Soviet states of Lithuania and Latvia on Thursday ratified the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, which aims to reforming decision making in the 27-nation bloc.

In Vilnius, 83 legislators in Lithuania's 141-member chamber voted in favour of the treaty, five voted against and 23 abstained, officials said.

In the 100-member parliament in Riga, meanwhile, 70 of Latvia's lawmakers voted to adopt the accord, three rejected it and one abstained.

Along with six other ex-communist states, the Baltic countries of Lithuania and Latvia joined the EU in May 2004, 13 years after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union.

In November 2004, Lithuania became the first member of the EU to ratify the bloc's constitution, which was later scuppered by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.

Latvia ratified that accord in June 2005, just days after it had been rejected in France and the Netherlands.

The Lisbon Treaty must be ratified by all 27 EU members before it can come into effect in 2009, as planned. Only Ireland is putting it to a referendum, due to domestic constitutional obligations.

According to the EU's executive body, the European Commission, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have already passed the treaty.

Poland's parliamentary ratification must still be signed by its president for the treaty to be considered formally adopted by that country.

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