On 3 February, President Edgars Rinkēvičs met with Chairman of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments Gints Kaminskis at the Riga Castle to discuss pressing issues concerning municipalities. During the meeting, the parties addressed municipal budgets and financial matters, national internal and external security, education, social issues, demographic challenges, and strategies for reducing bureaucracy, particularly in construction.
The discussion also covered the requirement for municipal leaders and their deputies to obtain security clearance for access to state secrets, as well as the ongoing efforts to enhance and implement municipal civil protection plans.
“At the end of last year, discussions emerged regarding the amendments to the Law on State Secrets and the Law on Local Governments, which I submitted to the Saeima and which were adopted in March 2024. In the new security reality, municipalities have numerous responsibilities that are directly dependent on effective cooperation with state institutions, including national security agencies, particularly in conducting training scenarios that inevitably involve sensitive and classified information. The full and effective execution of municipal functions, whether in daily operations, during national security threats, or in crisis situations, is fundamentally impossible if municipal officials lack the legal right and, consequently, the ability to access state secrets. The amendments adopted by the Saeima clearly express the legislator’s will – the chairperson and deputy chairperson of a municipal council are required to obtain a special permit for access to state secrets. At the same time, the legislator has established a clear framework to ensure that municipal leadership can effectively fulfil the tasks entrusted to them in safeguarding national and public security, as well as a procedure for responding appropriately in cases where these legal requirements are not met,” the President of Latvia said.
