Riga, Jan 29 (LETA) - Smart Administration and Regional Development Minister Raimonds Cudars (New Unity) has sent a request to Ogre City Council Chairman Egils Helmanis (National Alliance) to explain why he is performing the duties of Ogre mayor without a special clearance for access to state secrets required by law.

Sabine Spurke, the minister's adviser on communication issues, informed LETA that, according to the Local Government Law, the chairman of the council is obliged to provide an explanation within five working days of receiving the request. Failure to provide an explanation within the deadline is treated as a refusal to provide an explanation.

The Local Government Law requires local authorities to send requests to the competent state security authority for the granting of a special clearance for access to state secrets to the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the council no later than one month after their election to office.

Today, the Smart Administration and Regional Development Ministry has established that Helmanis is acting in his official capacity but does not have a security clearance.

Today, the Ogre Council is meeting for the first time in a long time under the chairmanship of Helmanis. At the beginning of the session, the Ogre mayor announced that he had returned to his duties.

Helmanis was elected mayor of Ogre on June 27, 2025, following elections held last summer. Less than a month later, on July 16, the council's public relations representatives announced that Helmanis had been injured in a shooting incident in Ukraine the day before, without providing further details on the circumstances of the incident and the damage to his health.

After the incident, Helmanis was on sick leave and for a long time was the only Latvian municipal leader who had not applied for a state secrets clearance, while promising to fill in the necessary form for a state secrets clearance "as soon as he recovered".

However, opposition members of the Ogre City Council questioned the validity of the sick leave, as the politician was also seen at the City Hall and on television during his official incapacity. The opposition also unsuccessfully sought Helmanis' replacement on the grounds of his prolonged absence.