Latvian parliament votes to open KGB files to the public

THE GUARDIAN , LONDON
Saturday, May 22, 2004,Page 6

Latvia has escalated tensions with Moscow by deciding to open its old KGB files.

The decision, taken in a parliamentary vote late on Wednesday night, will further fuel an already furious dispute over the alleged Latvian mistreatment of thousands of ethnic Russians who live in the ex-Soviet Baltic state.

The vote extends for 10 years a ban on former employees of, and informants for, the KGB from serving in government. It also opens to public scrutiny the rest of the KGB's archives in Latvia.

The KGB is thought to have removed the bulk of sensitive records during the collapse of the Soviet Union. But it left a series of "cards" -- records outlining which Latvians were informers and employees. Some 4,000 cards have become a political tool as Latvian politicians seek to discredit each other by exposing KGB links. Two Social Democrat members of the Latvian parliament (MPS), Juris Bojars and Janis Adamsons, lost their jobs in 1993 and 2000 when the cards showed they had worked for the security force.

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