In case studies of responses to illicit drug trafficking in Hungary, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic, a basic contradiction is identified between the European Union’s accession criteria, which attributes problems of organized criminality to the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies and public authorities within candidate states. The contradiction reveals the real agenda behind accession criteria: to secure the external borders of the European Union rather than to assist CEC states in improving the transition to market societies. This chapter draws on findings from a European Commission funded project examining the impact of European Union illicit drug trafficking control policies in the countries of Hungary, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic. It begins with an overview of the wider context of apparent European Union concerns, drawing attention to recent European Union developments in drug trafficking control strategies. It then considers some of the inconsistencies, realities, and impacts in the case study countries. It is ascertained that while all these countries demonstrate political will to conform to European Union direction given the promise of accession, there is a mismatch between this and feasible practical implementation. Note, references