Saeima Presidium asks ethics panel to review Pagors’ Russian-language video

Latvia’s Saeima Presidium has asked the parliament’s Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee to assess MP Andrejs Pagors for filming a video in Russian inside the parliamentary chamber, LSM reported.

Pagors, elected on the Sovereign Power/Young Latvians list, posted the video on social media platform X on the first day of the 15th Saeima. The post drew public criticism.

The Saeima’s rules and its MPs’ code of ethics state that lawmakers must use the state language in parliament, both when communicating with one another and with the public. The code was amended on May 29, 2025, following a proposal by the National Alliance, to require work and communication in parliament to be conducted in Latvian.

Pagors told Latvian Television that he had wanted to address his voters and show them what an MP’s work in the Saeima involves. He said he had not known that he was not allowed to speak Russian there and would not do it again. He also said the video was filmed before he took the MP’s oath.

The Saeima said the ethics code applied to Pagors regardless of whether he filmed the video before or after taking the oath, because the Central Election Commission had already officially announced the list of elected MPs.

Saeima Speaker Edvards Smiltēns and the other Presidium members submitted a request to the committee to initiate an ethics case over Pagors’s communication in Russian from the chamber. The committee will assess the matter and decide how to proceed.