Local municipal elections took place in Latvia on 7th June, 2025, but seven months later, the State Security Service (VDD) still hasn’t finished running background checks on the mayors and deputy mayors elected on that day, reports Latvian Radio.
So far the State Security Service has issued 92 special permits for access to state secrets to leading municipal officials – council chairmen and their deputies. Of these officials, 87 have been issued special permits for a full term, that is, five years, while five officials – two council chairmen and three deputy chairmen – have been issued permits for a shortened term, that is, two years.
In turn, the service has refused to issue a special permit to the chairman or mayor of one municipality – former Jūrmala City Council mayor Gatis Truksnis. He resigned from his position, and was replaced by Jānis Lediņš, but the municipality has not yet submitted a request to the VDD to initiate an inspection regarding his deputy, Romans Mežeckis.
Currently, the VDD is still continuing to assess the suitability of 25 local government leaders for working with state secrets.
At the same time, the service has not yet received a request for a special permit and the documentation necessary to initiate an inspection for two local government leaders: the chairman of one local government council and the deputy chairman of another.
In addition, one mayor and three deputy mayors had already received a special permit in 2024, when they held other positions requiring access to state secrets. These individuals did not have to undergo the same check again.
Meanwhile Ogre mayor Egils Helmanis (National Alliance) is on long-term sick leave, which is also the reason why he has not applied for a special permit to work with state secrets within the specified period.
Since July 18th last year, he has been absent, first using compensatory leave after a business trip, then on vacation, and since August 25th on disability due to an injury sustained while visiting Ukraine. Since his election, Helmanis has actually served as mayor for less than a month, but has refused to step down.
Although Helmanis has survived a vote of no confidence in the municipality, some council members have asked the Health Inspectorate for an opinion on the validity of Helmanis’ sick leave. The Health Inspectorate told Latvian Radio that it has begun an investigation and has requested medical institutions and individuals to submit the necessary medical documentation. The inspection is currently ongoing.
Helmanis himself has previously explained to the media that he will end his extended period of sick leave when his doctor decides to do so, and also explained that while he is not bed-ridden, he cannot do stressful work.
Lots of vetting
During the vetting process of any special permit applicant, the VDD assesses the person’s reliability and ability to maintain state secrets, obtaining and analyzing a wide range of information about that person. The process becomes protracted because candidates are not vetted ahead of the elections, or even immediately afterwards, but only when councils have decided who they want heading municipalities and have submitted an official request to the VDD to approve those it has decided upon.
The time limit specified in the law for the inspection of special permit applicants is three months. However, if, due to objective reasons, it is not possible to complete a comprehensive assessment of the person within this time limit, in accordance with the law, the service may extend the inspection for another three months.
The most common reasons for extending the verification period are a very large amount of information to be verified, difficulty obtaining information about certain stages of a person’s life, for example, periods of residence abroad, as well as risk factors identified during the verification that require additional time to evaluate.
Last year, the Saeima supported amendments to the law initiated by President Edgars Rinkēvičs, which require local government leaders to obtain state secret clearance. Executive directors and their deputies have required clearances since June 1 of last year, and mayors and their deputies – from this year’s local elections.
Failure to obtain security clearance for a leadership role on a municipality does not prevent an elected deputy from continuing to serve on the council, it should be noted.
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