The question of how open the declarations of public officials should remain has been raised again in Latvia. After a meeting with President Edgars Rinkēvičs, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs stated that the current system, where anyone can view declarations without authorization, requires serious reconsideration. According to the head of government, unrestricted access to such data may pose security risks. He noted that information from the declarations allows for establishing connections between officials and their family members, which, in his opinion, could represent a threat. This is why the president and the prime minister discussed the possibility of changing the existing system and providing access to the database only to identified users. Kulbergs emphasized that this is just the beginning of a discussion — no decisions on this matter have been made yet. In fact, the authorities propose not to close the declarations but to change the way access to them is granted. This would allow seeing who exactly is viewing the information contained in the database. President Edgars Rinkēvičs noted that such disputes are not new. According to him, the issue requires careful discussion, as it is necessary to find a balance between the transparency of public officials' work and the protection of their personal safety. At the same time, the president specifically emphasized that he does not advocate for complete closure of the information. In particular, journalists, in his opinion, should retain the ability for full access to the database. Currently, the declarations of public officials, which contain information about income, savings, debt obligations, close relatives, and other information, are posted in the database of the State Revenue Service. No registration or authorization is required to view them. The discussion is just beginning, so the current system remains unchanged for now. If the authorities decide to change the access system, relevant proposals still need to be developed and publicly discussed.
