Latvian election candidates' forms mistakenly list cooperation with Soviet security services
Translated from Latvian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Four candidates for the 15th Saeima elections mistakenly indicated cooperation with former Soviet security services on their Central Election Commission (CVK) forms.
- Political parties NA and AS have stated these were errors and are seeking corrections from the CVK.
- The candidates involved are Inese Zagorska, Jฤzeps Janiลกevs, Oskars Babris, and Uldis Ozoliลลก.
An error in candidate registration has surfaced ahead of Latvia's 15th Saeima elections, with four parliamentary hopefuls mistakenly listed as having cooperated with former Soviet security services. The Central Election Commission (CVK) published the candidates' forms, which included these potentially damaging declarations.
The candidates named are Inese Zagorska, running in the Vidzeme region for the For! (AS) party; Jฤzeps Janiลกevs from the "Gobzema saraksts" list in Riga; Oskars Babris, a candidate for the National Alliance (NA) in Latgale; and Uldis Ozoliลลก from the "Saskaลas centrs" party in Kurzeme.
A mistake was made when submitting the candidate list to the CVK, and we have already asked the CVK to correct this information.
Both the National Alliance and For! parties have moved quickly to address the issue, labeling the declarations as mistakes. NA representatives informed the portal "Delfi" that Babris has not engaged in any such cooperation and that an error occurred when submitting the candidate list to the CVK. They have requested the CVK to amend this information.
Similarly, AS issued a statement to the media, clarifying that Zagorska's entry on the CVK form was the result of a technical error. The party emphasized that Zagorska has never cooperated with Soviet, Latvian SSR, or any foreign state security, intelligence, or counter-intelligence services. AS has also filed a request with the CVK to make the necessary changes to the candidate's questionnaire.
Zagorska has never cooperated with the USSR, Latvian SSR, or foreign state security services, intelligence services, or counter-intelligence services.
Originally published by Delfi Latvia in Latvian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.