The government will decide next week, on August 11, to amend the law, which requires obtaining permission from the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to purchase property near defense and military facilities.
AM explains that a responsible attitude towards state security risks sometimes necessitates limiting the inviolability of private property. Several countries offer mechanisms to restrict real estate activities in order to prevent threats to national security, as well as other measures such as assessing the attraction of foreign investment.
Restriction of Latvia’s activities with real estate in protection zones around state defense objects is regulated by the provisions of the Protection Zones Law.
At the same time, in the case of Latvia, unlike most other EU and NATO member states, there is no regulation that would restrict the activities of persons with real estate in protection zones around national defense objects.
According to the experts of the Ministry of Defense, the acquisition of real estate located in protection zones around state defense objects may potentially endanger this protection object, other unauthorized persons trying to obtain information about the protection object and its operation.
This can be explained by the fact that the real estate around the state defense objects gives the owner direct access to this real estate, thus also the right to access relatively close to the respective protection object.
Thus, in certain cases, the respective real estate can be used as a tool for wider activities aimed at the security interests of the Latvian state. These individuals may be associated with foreign intelligence services and their potential actions may compromise the security integrity of the facility.
Taking into account the above, AM proposes to make amendments to the Law on Protection Zones, which stipulates that if the owner alienates real estate located in protection zones around state protection objects, he or she needs to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Defense.
Such a restriction shall be established in order to prevent national security risks and take preventive security measures.
At the same time, the amendments to the existing law provide for a kind of middle ground – not to set general restrictions on the acquisition of real estate around state defense objects, but to provide for certain procedures for the examination of a person wishing to acquire the relevant real estate.
It is expected that after the inspection, a decision will be made to issue a permit for the purchase of real estate.
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