The meeting heard reports from the Head of the Central Election Commission, the Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development, a representative of the State Digital Development Agency, the Chairperson of the Riga City Municipal Election Commission, and the Chairperson of the Management Board of the state-owned enterprise “Latvian State Radio and Television Centre” on the conduct of the 2025 municipal elections in Latvia.
The National Security Council has concluded that significant errors were made during the process of holding the municipal elections by the responsible officials and institutions. These included failings in planning, work coordination, technological support, forecasting the capacity of information technology systems, as well as in inter-institutional cooperation and transparent dialogue aimed at timely elimination of identified shortcomings. The Council also received information from the competent state security institutions confirming that no external threats or interference in the election process had been detected. The Council expressed confidence in the security of the elections. The Council called for a thorough review of the mistakes made and urged that all deficiencies and potential risks be addressed in preparation for the use of election systems in the 2026 parliamentary elections.
The National Security Council received reports from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence, and Latvia’s Permanent Representative to NATO regarding preparations for the upcoming Summit of NATO Heads of State and Government, scheduled for 24–25 June in The Hague, the Netherlands.
At the NATO Summit, the key issue will be a clear commitment by the Allies to significantly increasing defence investments and fulfilling national NATO capability targets. In light of this, the Minister of Defence and the Commander of the National Armed Forces presented reports on Latvia’s obligations in meeting these capability targets. The Council was unanimous in recognising the critical importance of effective deterrence and defence in the face of the long-term threat posed by Russia. In this context, the Council underlined Latvia’s strong interest in fully achieving NATO capability objectives. The Council recognised that Latvia, as a country with an EU and NATO external border, has an additional responsibility to ensure priority defence capabilities and to increase the human resources of the National Armed Forces, while being aware of the financial implications such decisions carry for the national budget.
The meeting heard reports from state security institutions on the current situation.