Former Prime Minister Karins defended the former head of the State Chancellery 0 4

In response to a question about his personal responsibility, Karins noted that he does not understand how it is possible to bring criminal charges against Cicukovskis, as the leadership of the State Chancellery acted in accordance with their understanding of the law. In his opinion, this may be an administrative violation, as there is a dispute regarding the interpretation of the law, but not criminal liability. According to the former politician, the case is currently being "inflated" and prolonged.

Karins pointed out that decisions about flights were made jointly with the Prime Minister's office, while the State Chancellery was responsible for their practical organization.

Karins does not intend to return to Latvian politics but is ready to assist politicians with a democratic orientation. According to him, Latvia currently lacks strong political leaders, and Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) has lost her positions, as she threatened but did not follow through on her threat to dismiss one of the ministers from the Union of Greens and Farmers (UGF). As a result, the UGF is now, according to Karins, in controlling positions "in both coalitions" — both in the ruling coalition and in the de facto existing coalition with opposition parties.

It was previously reported that in October, the prosecutor's office transferred the case regarding Karins' flights to court. According to the prosecutor's office, the former director of the State Chancellery has been charged with failing to perform official duties, which led to serious consequences. Initially, another person was involved in the case as a suspect, but this status was later changed to that of a witness.

According to the prosecutor's office, during the pre-trial investigation, the possible responsibility of both the former prime minister and several officials of the State Chancellery and its structural unit — the Prime Minister's Bureau — was assessed. It was ultimately established that it was the director of the State Chancellery, as the head of the institution, who bears responsibility for the legality and appropriateness of the use of budget funds when ordering services related to the Prime Minister's foreign business trips.

Due to Cicukovskis' inaction, according to the prosecution, Latvia suffered damage amounting to 89,382 euros. Under the law, this is considered a crime that resulted in serious consequences.

During the investigation, it was established that in the context of four foreign business trips of the Prime Minister, the State Chancellery illegally ordered and paid for five special charter flights, despite the possibility of timely purchasing tickets for regular commercial flights for delegation members.

Using regular flights without additional accommodation costs would have saved 89,382.90 euros of budget funds. In calculating the damage caused, the prosecutor's office relied on the methodology used by the State Audit Office in its audit regarding special flights and the conclusions drawn about the illegal use of the budget and the possibility of savings.

Although the prosecutor's office does not question the Prime Minister's right to independently make decisions about the necessity of foreign business trips, the pre-trial investigation established that the director of the State Chancellery did not ensure compliance with the provisions of the law on preventing the misappropriation of public funds, as well as the restrictions established by the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the payment of travel expenses.

The prosecutor's office took into account that the funds for the payment of special flights were allocated from the state budget for 2022 to ensure safe flights for the Prime Minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, while the business trips in question were organized after the state of emergency had ended.

Thus, the prosecutor's office concluded that the director of the State Chancellery did not fulfill his duties imposed by the law on public administration, the law on budget and financial management, and other regulatory acts — he did not control the legality and appropriateness of the use of funds in the department and did not instruct subordinate officials to cancel the illegally ordered special flights.

At the end of March 2024, the Prosecutor General's Office initiated and transferred a criminal case regarding possible large-scale embezzlement related to the use of charter flights for the former Prime Minister's business trips to the Bureau for Prevention and Combating Corruption (BPBC). The case was later returned to the prosecutor's office. The court process regarding Karins' flights in the Riga City Court is scheduled to begin on April 7, 2026.

Meanwhile, the State Audit Office indicated in its audit that there were significantly larger unjustified expenses than those indicated by the prosecutor's office. According to the auditors' estimates, the illegal and uneconomical actions in organizing Karins' special flights led to unjustified expenses from the budgets of Latvia and the EU Council amounting to approximately 545,000 euros.

As indicated by the State Audit Office, the information collected during the audit shows that both Prime Minister Karins himself and his directly subordinate Prime Minister's Bureau and State Chancellery were involved in making and implementing decisions about charter flights. At that time, the Bureau was headed by current Saeima deputy Janis Patmalnieks (New Unity), and the State Chancellery was led by Janis Cicukovskis.

Initially, in connection with the scandal regarding Karins' flights, Cicukovskis was temporarily suspended from his position. Later, he left the State Chancellery.

In October, Cicukovskis stated in a comment to the LETA agency that he does not understand the charges brought against him. He reported that he had requested a written clarification from the prosecutor's office regarding what exactly he is being accused of. "I was given a three-page essay, from which it is difficult to understand what exactly I am guilty of," noted the former official. According to him, the prosecutor's office refused to explain the charges in more detail.

"I do not understand the charges and do not acknowledge them. And I am ready to prove my innocence in court," Cicukovskis stated.

Last summer, he also reported his intention to contact law enforcement regarding attempts to pressure him to take responsibility and publicly state that he made the decision regarding the choice of flights himself. He now claims that he has not received a response from law enforcement for over a year.

It was also reported that after a tip-off from an informant, the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Aigars Strupish, initiated an investigation this spring to determine whether there were grounds for the dismissal of then Attorney General Juris Stukans. The tip-off was provided by former supervising prosecutor in the case regarding Karins' flights, Viorika Yirgena. As reported by the magazine "Ir", Yirgena expressed concern that Stukans insisted on bringing charges against a person for whom she did not see legal grounds for criminal prosecution.

The plenum of the Supreme Court, after reviewing the results of the investigation, found no grounds for Stukans' dismissal. This summer, Stukans unsuccessfully ran for a second term as Attorney General but applied to participate in a repeat competition.