National Alliance ministers demand audit of all Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund projects

Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava and Culture Minister Nauris Puntulis, both from the National Alliance (NA), have approached the Audit Authority of the Ministry of Finance (FM) requesting an expansion of the system audit for the 2021–2027 Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. They want all projects administered by the Ministry of Culture (KM) to be reviewed.

The request stems from “violations and significant shortcomings” identified in a preliminary assessment of the project “Intercultural Communication Training for Professionals in Various Fields”. The FM has noted that the audit is not yet complete and therefore cannot comment on its findings.

The NA politicians fear that the issues may not be isolated to a single project but could indicate systemic problems in project selection, administration, and oversight. They argue that the audit should cover all stages – from selection to implementation and supervision – to determine whether the violations point to systemic flaws.

Earlier, Puntulis suspended the rights of the association “Latvian Women's NGO Cooperation Network” to conduct any further financial activities related to the project “Societal Diversity and Intercultural Communication for Professionals Working with Third-Country Nationals”. The total project budget is €249,000, of which €74,000 has been used; checks on the use of funds are ongoing.

According to the NA politicians, the FM audit indicates that the association could not clearly define participant selection criteria, justify expenses, or account for the extent of training provided, and there are suspicions of artificially inflated participant numbers. The FM itself has not published any conclusions.

Meanwhile, Dombrava has terminated previous memoranda of cooperation between the Interior Ministry and the NGOs “I Want to Help Refugees” and “Latvian Women's NGO Cooperation Network”. He announced that an analysis of programs funding NGOs from ministry sources has been launched, and a random check of one project suggests that the entire amount may need to be repaid due to serious violations.

The affected NGOs reject the allegations as unfounded and see the NA's actions as an attempt to limit civil society.