Former Russian ambassador to Latvia: programme was in place to influence elections

The Russian Embassy in Riga and leaders of the political party Harmony have denied allegations recently made by former Russian Ambassador to Latvia Viktor Kaluzhny to the Russian radio station Eho Moskvi. Kaluzhny claimed that there is a special programme in place by which the embassy can influence results of Latvian elections, with the aim of getting Russian parties into power, according to the Latvijas Avize newspaper.

The former ambassador told the radio station that the Russian Embassy in Riga had a special programme in place, which attempted to get Russian parties into power via the local elections in Riga in 2009, and the parliamentary elections in 2010.

''One of my working principles as ambassador was that every start needed an ending, meaning that every task needed to be started and then finished. Thus, my belief was that I was responsible for bilateral relations. At the same time, I was also responsible for the embassy's programme, which was aimed at getting Russian parties into power in Riga in 2009, and Saeima in 2010,'' said Kaluzhny.

He also expressed regret in the interview that the programme was successful in getting a Russian party (apparently referring to Harmony) into power during the 2009 local government elections, but was not successful during the 10th elections for the Saiema (the Latvian Parliament), which were won by the Unity Party led by Valdis Dombrovskis. Kaluzhny then blamed his successor Alexander Veshnyakov, who had supposedly ended the implementation of the programme in question.

Asked how the embassy had implemented this programme, Kaluzhny said that the first task was to reform Harmony Centre and put Nils Usakovs as leader, as many were Janis Urbanovics, who was leader at the time.

However, when questioned by LETA, Harmony's current leaders denied the former ambassador's claims. ''Sometimes, when people retire, they have a tendency to increase their role in historical events. If the Kaluzhny interview went on for another half hour, he would likely have said that the Latvian economy and Latvia itself exists because of his efforts. I would not like to exaggerate Kaluzhny's role, as he did have a weak understanding of Latvia's internal processes. He was not able to learn everything,'' Usakovs said.

Urbanovics was harsher in his comments. ''This is basically an accusation that Russia has interfered, or attempted to interfere, in Latvia's internal affairs. If this is the case, then Russia must apologise. If this is not the case, Kaluzhny should be tried,'' Urbanovics said, calling the former ambassador's comments ''nonsense''.

The press service of the Russian Embassy in Riga was concise in its reply: ''we do not intend to comment Kaluzhny's fantasies. We advise you to go directly to the source if you want to know more about this nonsense. The embassy wishes to emphasise that it continues to work in accordance with international regulations, bilateral agreement with Latvia and the Vienna Convention, which includes principles on non-interference in the domestic affairs of a country.''