Latvia’s Saeima Bans Municipal Councilors from Traveling to Belarus
The Latvian Saeima has adopted amendments to the Law on Restricting Activities Threatening National Security. According to LSM, these amendments ban municipal councilors from traveling to Belarus and Russia.
Previously, such restrictions applied to specific categories of officials and employees, as well as to members of the Saeima itself.
The authors of the amendments justify the new measure by noting that municipal officials have access to detailed information regarding critical infrastructure, civil defense plans, transport and logistics hubs, and other resources managed by municipalities.
Additionally, on October 8, the Saeima passed a law prohibiting citizens of Belarus and Russia from owning critical infrastructure in the country.
Critical infrastructure is classified into several categories: A, B, C, and D. The latter covers facilities where destruction, operational impairment, or the disruption of critical services during wartime would pose a significant threat to public and national security.
This category includes, for example, food production and distribution, heat supply, pharmaceutical distribution, and other sectors.