The Latvian society monitors officials through live broadcasts of government meetings

The Latvian society uses live broadcasts of meetings of the government to monitor the activity of civil servants, said Zaneta Ozolina, the Head of the Latvian Council on Foreign Policy during the 8th Kyiv Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatseniuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

“State Service must be open. Latvia is an example. We are practically the only country where you can watch online government meetings, not only those of the Parliament. You can see how the meeting goes on, who talks on respective issues on the air,” – she said.

Z. Ozolina stressed that this makes officials pretty responsible both in their speeches and in their work: “Because accountability really matters, it is what should happen in real life, not on paper”.

According to the head of the Latvian Council on foreign policy, the transparency of administration increases public confidence in its leadership, in the process of reforming. “Service - means to serve society, be at the service of society. And people should feel that they are paying the salary to civil servants. So society must demand respective services,” – she said.

In addition Z. Ozolina noted that there were many strong advocates of Ukraine in Latvia who were willing to share their experience with the Ukrainians.

For your information:

The annual international event ‘Kyiv Security Forum’, established by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007 is a platform for discussion of the most pressing issues concerning the security in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum is aimed at promoting security cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea Region, raising awareness of the development of security among key players and strengthening the role of independent and non-governmental actors in solving security problems in Europe.