Latvia throws open the door to KGB archives

Latvia's legislature (Seym) voted late Wednesday to open the archives of the now defunct Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) when it approved amendments to the law on the preservation and employment of the records of the former police agency and on the identification of persons who cooperated with the KGB. As reported today by Latvian radio, the decision lifts all restrictions on access to and publication of archive material.

The deputies also extended for an additional 10 years the ban on former KGB employees holding positions in the Latvian government, rejecting a proposal to make the ban permanent.