The new CPB Director receives unanimous support from the Saeima

In a rare unanimous vote, the Saeima has elected Egils Zviedris, a long-standing member of the security institutions and Deputy to the former Director of the Bureau Jānis Maizītis, to the post of Director of the Constitution Protection Bureau. He believes that it does not matter who heads the CPB. Its functions and tasks are defined by law.

All 90 present members of the Saeima voted in favor of E. Zviedris. Such unanimity is rare in our Parliament. For example, in 2013, when former Prosecutor General Jānis Maizītis was elected for the first time, 90 MPs took part in the vote, but only 59 supported his candidacy. The second time he was elected, support was much higher - 85 out of 97. But two coalition representatives voted against him. One of them was Romāns Naudiņš, representing the National Alliance (Nacionālā Apvienība), who did not support J. Maizītis' candidacy because he believed that the CPB had unjustifiably and for possibly politically motivated reasons denied him access to information containing state secrets. As a result, he had to leave the post of Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.

The issue of access to state secrets is also a topical one for the current Saeima term. Viktors Valainis, representing the Union of Greens and Farmers (Zaļo un Zemnieku Savienība), hopes that the decisions of the office headed by E. Zviedris will not cause public controversy, as has been the case on several occasions in the past.

V.Valainis would also like to see more cooperation between the Bureau and other institutions, for example in helping to prevent cartels. In his view, the CPB should cooperate more not only with the government but also with municipalities.

"The public sector should be helped by providing information on economic issues, not only at the highest national level but also at the municipal level. Tens of millions of euros worth of business is done there too. The CPB should be more visible not only in the case of granting access to state secrets but also in economic matters," said the MP, reminding that the office must also take care of its reputation, which has been somewhat tarnished by criminal proceedings against its former employees.

Ļubova Švecova, a non-factional member, also pointed to some of the CPB's past decisions, which have made her wonder whether the Bureau is working as a desk for political orders. However, the information available to her about E. Zviedris lets her hope that the Bureau will work more for the benefit of the state.

Inese Voika, representing Development/For! (Attīstībai/Par!), pointed out that E. Zviedris' statement that the work of the Bureau was not influenced by its head should not be taken literally. It is a clear indication that the CPB operates strictly in accordance with the law.

"This statement should not be taken literally, because the head of any organization, but especially a public institution with a large authority such as the CPB, plays an important role (..) However, Mr Zviedris' statement is a good reminder to those who have made attacks, verbal attacks, on the CPB regarding giving access to state secrets to public officials. It is a reminder that it is precisely the protection of the state, as laid down by law, that must not be subject to political connivance. The controversy that erupts every time a senior state official is refused a state secrets clearance comes up time after time, and we have seen it in this Saeima too," says I. Voika.

Earlier, the appointment of E. Zviedris as Director of the CPB was unanimously supported by the Saeima National Security Committee, and his nomination was also supported by other national security institutions and the country's strategic partners.

It is underlined that E. Zviedris has been working in the state security institutions since 1992 and in the CPB since 2000. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Riga Technical University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Turība University.

E.Zviedris has worked for the Government Security Service, the State Economic Sovereignty Protection Department (SESPD), the Security Police, in 2000, he became an inspector of the CPB Intelligence Directorate for matters of paramount importance, in 2011 - the head of the NVS division of the CPB Intelligence Directorate, and since 2014 he has held the position of Deputy Director of the CPB and Head of the Intelligence Directorate.

Since last August, E. Zviedris has represented the CPB leadership at international meetings of the intelligence and security services of the European Union and NATO.