Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation

In 2012, several non-NATO and non-EU countries' intelligence services were active in Latvia, with the activity ranging from very low to moderately high. The overall threat posed by foreign intelligence services to Latvia is considered moderate, says the report.

Last year, foreign intelligence services were gathering information about Latvia's move to the eurozone, overcoming of the economic crisis, European Union funds allotted to Latvia, Latvia's energy policy and several individual energy projects.

Foreign intelligence services' priorities last year also included Latvia's security policy, membership in NATO and other international organizations.

Foreign intelligence services acquire information from public sources, public servants and officials.

Intelligence services in Latvia employ different methods, but use of aggressive and direct methods by foreign intelligence officers in order to acquire specific information is rare, and there are few attempts to acquire classified information.

Much more often, foreign intelligence services are interested in information from the sidelines and experts' opinion. Such information is combined with analysis of public information, and the sum total may provide quite detailed insight into an area that a given intelligence service is interested in.

Establishing contacts is also important part of foreign intelligence officers' activity in Latvia, the Constitutional Protection Bureau says in the report.