KGB infiltrates local government

  • 2013-07-04
  • From wire reports

According to information from the Constitutional Protection Bureau’s Totalitarianism Legacy Documentation Center, newly elected Daugavpils City Council Member Boriss Ivanovs (Latgale Party) was a former Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) KGB agent, reports LETA. This still needs to be confirmed by a court.

The Totalitarianism Legacy Documentation Center carries out background checks of all candidates running in elections in Latvia. Constitutional Protection Bureau spokeswoman Iveta Maura confirmed to LETA that the Totalitarianism Legacy Documentation Center concluded on April 22 that Ivanovs does not conform with Local Government Election Law, as he is a former KGB agent. According to the law, a person who has worked in former Soviet KGB institutions cannot run for office in Latvia.

Furthermore, according to the Citizenship Law, a person cannot obtain Latvian citizenship if he/she has served in Soviet KGB institutions, or any other foreign security or surveillance services. Ivanovs told LETA recently that he recently obtained Latvian citizenship through naturalization, and that all the necessary background checks were made. However, Maura confirmed that the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs had informed the Totalitarianism Legacy Documentation Center on June 27, 2012 of Ivanovs’ activities as a former KGB agent.