Prosecutors examine Sovereign Power party after Unity complaint

Latvia's Prosecutor General's Office has opened a review of the political party Sovereign Power (SV). The review follows a submission by the party New Unity (JV), which asked prosecutors to assess SV's activities and, if violations are found, to propose that the party be liquidated. Prosecutors confirmed to the news agency LETA that the submission was accepted and that the review began some time ago, but offered no broader comment.

What the JV submission says

JV addressed the filing to Prosecutor General Armīns Meisters shortly before the 15th Saeima (parliamentary) elections. It cites media reports that SV leader Jūlija Stepaņenko received gifts worth almost half a million euros from her father, Sergey Fedotov, who lives in Russia. According to publicly available information, his company fulfils Russian government military orders, and he has repeatedly supported Russia's war in Ukraine by supplying anti-tank objects to Donbas. Since 2022, Stepaņenko and her husband Vjačeslavs have donated €39,430 to the party.

JV argues that SV's election programme goals, including abolishing the state defence service, cutting defence funding, halting support for Ukraine, restoring Russian-language teaching in schools and speeding up citizenship for non-citizens, would weaken Latvia's security. It also points to links with the party Latvian Russian Union, whose activities the Prosecutor General's Office has examined before, and to candidate Armands Kaļišuks, a former parliamentary assistant to Jānis Ādamsons, who was convicted of spying for Russia.

Legal basis

JV refers to Article 7, part four, of the Law on Political Parties, which prohibits parties from acting against the independence and territorial integrity of Latvia or other democratic states. Prosecutors and state security institutions supervise parties. JV also asks for an assessment of the legality of SV's financing and of whether its activities show support for an aggressor state.