On 20 December, at Riga Castle President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs chaired a meeting of the National Security Council (“Council”). During the meeting, the issue of Latvia’s civil defence system and its management was discussed, with a special focus on availability of shelters.
The participants of the meeting heard a report by the Ministry of the Interior about the civil defence system and the activities planned for improving the system. The Council discussed the system’s management and organisation model and opportunities for improving it. The President of Latvia called for close cooperation with municipalities in order to provide them with necessary support in creating a system that provides protection to all residents of Latvia and facilitating the national military defence preparedness. The members of the Council heard about the existing plans for creating civil defence shelters and proposed that practical steps be taken soon to create and explain to society the shelter provisioning plans.
The participants of the meeting also agreed to discuss at the next Council meeting in 2024 the issue of the process and practice in investigating and examining crimes against national security.