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Nils Ušakovs (; born 8 June 1976) is a Latvian
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, former mayor of Riga and former journalist. He was the board chairman of the
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
party alliance Harmony Centre (2005–2014) and afterwards board chairman of the
Social Democratic Party "Harmony" The Social Democratic Party "Harmony" (; , S),The party officially translates its name as ''Social Democratic Party "Concord"''. also commonly referred to as Harmony (''Saskaņa''), is a social-democratic political party in Latvia. It was the larg ...
(2014–2019). In 2009 Ušakovs was elected the Mayor of Riga, becoming the first ethnic Russian Riga Mayor since Latvia's restoration of sovereignty in 1991, a position he continuously held until his dismissal in 2019.


Background

Ušakovs was born in
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
into the family of an engineer and an amateur jazz musician Valērijs Ušakovs and literature and
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
teacher Ludmila Ušakova. During his childhood, Ušakovs considered a military career, perhaps influenced by his family's history: both of his grandparents were
army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warra ...
s who fought in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and many of his ancestors were involved in the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
. Ušakovs graduated from the
University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...
in 1999 with a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in economics. He became a
naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
of Latvia the same year. He then lived and studied in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, where he received a candidatus oeconomices degree with specialization in
European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...
issues from the
University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark (, SDU) has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. It offers a number of joint programmes in co-operation with the University of Flensburg and the University of Kiel. Contacts with regional indu ...
in 2002. Aside from his native Russian, Ušakovs is fluent in English and Latvian, with basic knowledge of Swedish, Danish and German.


Journalist

From 1998 to 2005, Ušakovs had occupied various positions within Russian and Latvian-language media, including NTV (1998–1999),
Latvijas Televīzija Latvijas Televīzija (''Latvian Television'', LTV) is the state-owned public service broadcasting, public service television broadcaster in Latvia. LTV operates two channels, LTV1 in Latvian language, Latvian and LTV7 (previously called LTV2) in ...
(1999–2000), TV5 (2001–2004) and the Channel One Baltic (2004–2005), where he worked as a news editor. In 2004, Ušakovs, for his contribution to journalism, was conferred the Cicero Award, established by the University of Latvia and the Latvian Association of Journalists.


Politician


Saeima member (2006–2009)

In 2005, Ušakovs' friend
Jānis Urbanovičs Jānis Urbanovičs (born 23 March 1959) is a Latvian politician and author. He has been a member of the Saeima since 1994. From 2005–2010 Urbanovičs was chairman of the National Harmony Party and from 2010–2014 and again since 2019 the chai ...
made an invitation to join the National Harmony Party, which Ušakovs accepted. The party soon entered the Harmony Centre alliance, with Ušakovs elected its leader. He became a Saeima member after the
2006 Latvian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 7 October 2006.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1122 The governing coalition, led by Prime Minister of Latvia, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis and hi ...
, his alliance winning 17 seats (the third-best result). The alliance positioned itself as the only political force in the country promoting cooperation between the ethnic Latvians and Russians. Ušakovs has argued that this is the only way to achieve fuller integration of the Russian-speaking population, as opposed to political parties catering to the interests of only one ethnicity.


Mayor of Riga

Ušakovs has held the post of Riga Mayor continuously from 2009 till 2019 and his represented Harmony Centre has received the most votes in the past three municipal elections in Riga (2009, 2013 and 2017).


First term (2009–2013)

The Harmony Centre was the winner of the 6 June 2009, local election in Riga, securing 26 out of 60 seats. It entered a coalition with
Ainārs Šlesers Ainārs Šlesers (born 22 January 1970) is a Latvian business Business oligarch, oligarch and politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia, as well as Deputy Mayor of Riga. Currently he is a member of the Saeima, Latvian Parliament and head ...
' LPP/LC party, which won 12 seats. Ušakovs and Šlesers were nominated for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor respectively, a move approved by the new city council on 1 July. Ušakovs'
inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...
was marred by a small controversy: the previous mayor,
Jānis Birks Jānis Birks (born 31 July 1956 in Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's tota ...
of the right-wing,
national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conserva ...
For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (, abbreviated to TB/LNNK) was a free-market, national conservative political party in Latvia. In 2011, it dissolved and merged into the National Alliance (Latvia), National Alliance. The party was founded from sm ...
party, which failed to win any seats, did not participate in the traditional ceremony of passing the
chain of office A livery collar or chain of office is a collar or heavy chain, usually of gold, worn as insignia of office or a mark of fealty or other association in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards. One of the oldest and best-known livery collars is the C ...
to the new mayor. Birks' press secretary claimed that it was not due to an ideological conflict or a grudge, but because Birks was away from the city on that day. Ušakovs saw strengthening of ties with Russia, particularly in the realms of freight transit through the Riga
free port A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...
and tourism, as a solution to Riga's economic troubles, as Latvia was significantly affected by the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. During his campaign for the Riga's City Council, Ušakovs also argued for more emphasis on education of Latvia's population and protection of vital local industries. On 23 November 2010 Ušakovs was elected in the
Freeport of Riga Riga Free Port () is a major port on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, located in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It stretched for 15 kilometers along both banks of the Daugava within the city limits, the area of the port is 1962 ha, water area - ...
Board. On 5 January 2010 members from the Riga City Council opposition initiated an unsuccessful
vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
against Ušakovs, criticizing him of "undemocratic governance, work in the interest of private lobbies, poor management skills and squandering money". According to data from research centre SKDS, Ušakovs' popularity among Rigans had grown steadily, from 53.1% of Rigans approving of Ušakovs' performance in August 2009 to 73% of the city's residents approving of him in December 2010, the highest recorded approval among Riga Mayors since March 1997, when the sociological studies were launched. In a 2010 survey by newspaper '' Neatkarīgā'' Ušakovs was voted the best Mayor of Riga by 43% respondents. In 2011 Ušakovs signed a petition for Russian as a second official language in Latvia, despite the fact that both Harmony and Ušakovs had previously stated that they do not support it. He released a statement saying that he had been angered by National Alliance voting against the allocation of funds for such a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
and went on to argue that it is not a move against the
Latvian language Latvian (, ), also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken in the Baltic region, and is the language of the Latvians. It is the official language of Latvia ...
, but in the name of dignity. After that other deputies, local government representatives and public officials from Harmony Centre began to sign it as well, including MP Nikolajs Kabanovs.


Second term (2013–2017)

After the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse in 2013 Ušakovs announced on November that he, unlike
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis (; born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously serv ...
, will not be resigning as he believed he could best serve the interests of his voters by remaining in office. Ušakovs called the resignation of Dombrovskis "a cynical attempt to kill two birds with one stone" and criticized him of avoiding solving current problems. In December 2013 Ušakovs was asked by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development to provide explanations for "ineffective construction control in the capital". On 3 December 2013, two demonstrations were organized in the Latvian Riflemen Square near the City Council to both express support and criticism of Ušakovs for not resigning in the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse aftermath. They were attended by several hundred people, many of the supporters being
Rīgas Satiksme Rīgas Satiksme is a municipally-owned public transportation and infrastructure company serving Riga, Latvia and the surrounding areas. It was founded on 20 February 2003 as an umbrella organisation for the respective operators of trams, buses an ...
employees who were allowed to take a day off to participate in the demonstration. Asked for comment Ušakovs responded by asking to point a single person brought to the demonstration by force. An investigation was launched by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau on the alleged misappropriation of taxpayers’ money and use of said money to finance the public demonstration in support of Ušakovs. In August 2014 Ušakovs criticized the sanctions imposed against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine as a "nightmarish idea" and warned that Latvia would suffer the most from Russian counter sanctions, adding that he would "go and plead for them to keep our stands open so that, when this war is over, there’s a place to return to". A month later Ušakovs went on an official visit to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, where he met with
Russian Prime Minister The prime minister of the Russian Federation, also domestically stylized as the chairman of the government of the Russian Federation and widely recognized as the prime minister, is the head of government of Russia and the second highest ranking ...
and former President
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
, head of the
Russian Orthodox church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
Patriarch Kirill and
Moscow Mayor The Mayor of Moscow () is the head and the highest-ranking official of Moscow, who leads the Government of Moscow, the main executive body of the city. Moscow is both a city and separate federal subject, according to the Constitution of Rus ...
Sergey Sobyanin Sergey Semyonovich Sobyanin (; born 21 June 1958) is a Russian politician, serving as the 3rd mayor of Moscow since 21 October 2010. Sobyanin previously served as the governor of Tyumen Oblast (2001–2005), Head of the Russian presidential ad ...
to discuss current developments in economic relations, cultural promotion and other issues. A few days later Ušakovs went on an official party visit to
Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, where he met with
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
officials to discuss political situation of the Russian-speaking minority and its integration, rights of national and ethnic language minorities,
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
financing and the response of U.S. to the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
. On 20 February 2015, during another visit in Moscow Ušakovs received the International Public Orthodox Peoples Unity Award for "strengthening Christian principles within society" from Patriarch Kirill, as well as 10,000
US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
s that Ušakovs donated towards the renovation of St. Nicholas Orthodox chapel in Spīķeri, Riga. In 2015 the Parliamentary investigative commission issued a final report, declaring that Ušakovs was one of the 7 people politically and morally responsible for the Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse, in Ušakovs’ case the reason being that "Riga City Council's construction supervision system was inefficient and fragmented, while the procedure of certification of construction experts did not contribute to the development of safe construction practices".


Third term (2017–2019)

In 2017 Ušakovs was elected for the third term as mayor of Riga. In December 2018 Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau carried out more than 30 searches in the offices of
Rīgas Satiksme Rīgas Satiksme is a municipally-owned public transportation and infrastructure company serving Riga, Latvia and the surrounding areas. It was founded on 20 February 2003 as an umbrella organisation for the respective operators of trams, buses an ...
and the Rīga City Council and detained 8 people in Latvia and Poland in relation to a corruption probe over rigged multi-million tenders from 2013 to 2016, prompting the resignation of Rīgas Satiksme board and Riga City Council deputy mayor Andris Ameriks. The
President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of this office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The presi ...
Raimonds Vējonis,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Māris Kučinskis, former Minister of Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards and current Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development Juris Pūce all called for Ušakovs to resign as well. On 13 December Ušakovs called an extraordinary city council meeting to ask for a mandate of confidence, receiving support from 32 of 60 municipal councilors, while the opposition councilors walked out of the meeting. On 30 January 2019 the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau searched Ušakovs' office and residence in relation to an ongoing criminal probe. The next day Harmony released a statement fully supporting Ušakovs and called the actions "a politically motivated attempt by a single party to change the outcome of the election". On 9 February 2019, Harmony organized a demonstration outside the Riga Town Hall attended by around 3,000 people, many of whom expressed support for Ušakovs. Two days before the protest the
State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
launched a criminal case for inciting
ethnic hatred Ethnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to notions and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group to varying degrees. It is a form of racial prejudice, based on ethnic origin or region of origin ...
over posters appearing both on
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
and on the streets showing Nazi officers taking away Ušakovs dressed like a concentration camp inmate with a notice saying "Because he’s Russian" in Latvian (''Tāpēc, ka krievs''). Harmony said the posters have not been circulated by them and called police to investigate the source and goals of the posters. On 28 February Pūce demanded Ušakovs to provide a detailed overview for the state of Rīgas Satiksmes' financial affairs and planned steps to stabilize the situation in the company after the interim chairperson of Rīgas Satiksme Anrijs Matīss announced the same day that the company would need 37 million euros in March to avoid
insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
. On 5 March Matīss resigned, citing lack of support from Ušakovs for changes in the company.


Dismissal and resignation (2019)

On 5 April 2019, Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia Juris Pūce suspended Ušakovs from his position of mayor, citing at least eight legal and regulatory violations. Ušakovs called the action "absolutely illegal" and "heavily politicized" and promised to fight it in court. Upon his removal, Ušakovs signed an order for recently selected vice-mayor Oļegs Burovs to assume the duties of mayor. On 17 May 2019 Ušakovs' plea against Riga City Council deputy Vilnis Ķirsis for indirectly referring to Ušakovs and Ameriks as "the face of corruption" was rejected by the Riga City Vidzeme Suburb Court and Ušakovs was ordered to pay 1,000 euros to Ķirsis to cover
litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...
costs. After being elected into the European Parliament, Ušakovs submitted his resignation on 29 May 2019, but vowed to continue fighting against his dismissal in court. On 8 April 2020 his appeal was rejected by the Administrative District Court who concluded that the dismissal was necessary, reasonable and proportional to the uncovered violations.


European Parliament (2019–present)

On 25 February Latvian Television reported of unofficial information that Ušakovs and Ameriks will run in the upcoming
European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...
for the first time ever, replacing the previously announced Harmony lead candidate
Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis (; born 27 December 1977 in Riga) is a Latvian Russians, Latvian Russian politician and economist, who has previously served as the Minister for Education and Science and as Minister of Economics of Latvia. Dombrovskis has ...
, despite Ušakovs previously stating he has no intention of running for the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
. The next day Ušakovs and Ameriks confirmed their run for the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
and Ušakovs denied speculation that the reason for changing his mind was the ongoing corruption investigation into Rīgas Satiksme. The campaign was successful and Ušakovs and Ameriks were both elected to the European Parliament. He has since been serving on the Committee on Budgets. In addition to his committee assignments, he is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and to the
Euronest Parliamentary Assembly The EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia participate and forge closer political and economic ...
. He is currently one of two Latvian MEPs who, along with
Ivars Ijabs Ivars Ijabs (born 17 November 1972) is a Latvian political scientist and politician. He is a lecturer and professor at the University of Latvia and holds a PhD in political science. In May 2019, representing political alliance Development/For!, ...
, are members of the
European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Uni ...
.


Collapse at the Riga Half Marathon

On Sunday 22 May 2011 Ušakovs collapsed after consuming an
energy drink An energy drink is a type of non-alcoholic psychoactive functional beverage containing stimulant compounds, usually caffeine (at a higher concentration than ordinary soda pop) and taurine, which is marketed as reducing tiredness and improving pe ...
while taking part in the Riga Marathon
half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...
event. He was immediately placed in intensive care at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital with signs of severe
hyperthermia Hyperthermia, also known as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme te ...
. Ušakovs was placed in an
induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...
state. On 24 May he was transported to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
for further treatment at the Charité Hospital. The Latvian medical authorities had previously declared his condition "serious but stable." On 30 May doctors awoke him from an
induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...
state. He fully recovered in the following weeks and resumed his duties on 12 July. More than 213 000 lats were donated for Ušakovs, of which 48 053 lats were used to cover the treatment expenses, while the rest was directed to charity for children treatment abroad.


Controversy

On 17 November 2011, founder and editor of the Russian-language news website ''Kompromat'' Leonīds Jākobsons began publishing e-mail correspondence from 2008 to 2009 between Ušakovs and advisor of the Russian embassy in Riga Alexander Hapilov, an alleged Russian intelligence agent, concerning funding of 2009 Latvian municipal elections. Ušakovs filed a complaint against Jēkabsons and on 23 November 2011, a criminal process was launched against Jēkabsons for "violation of confidentiality of correspondence and information transmitted over telecommunications networks". In December 2011, the
State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
arrested Jākobsons and searched his apartment, confiscating multiple data storage devices and two computers. The arrest was strongly condemned by
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
. On 29 May 2011 Jēkabsons was beaten, burned and slashed in the face with a sharp object by two unidentified attackers, who Jēkabsons believed were linked to his recent publications about Ušakovs. After the incident, Ušakovs voiced his support for Jākobsons on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, ending with "I have an alibi :)". The phrase was publicly condemned as cynical. In 2016 Jākobsons was cleared of all charges, in regard to publication of Ušakovs' correspondence. In September 2014 Ušakovs sparked controversy in an interview with the Russian television channel Dozhd, where he said, "For us at the moment, President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
is the best one we could have because, if he wasn't there, then power would not go to Navalny", adding that "The presidents that could be in his place would not bring stability to the neighborhood". Two weeks before the 2017 Latvian municipal elections on 3 June a documentary titled ''Pārgājiens'' (Walkabout) on Ušakovs' road to becoming the Riga Mayor premiered at the Splendid Palace cinema. Producer and sports organizer Raimonds Elbakjans claimed the film was not a political advertisement but a genuine inspirational "documentary"; however, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau later found that "Harmony" had partially financed it (i.e. the film making, broadcasting and pre-release) and classified it as a "pre-election campaigning", fining "Harmony" for 250 euros. In March 2018 The Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism '' Re:Baltica'' published an investigation claiming that over a period of three years Ušakovs "has spent more than 8 million euros of taxpayer money on promoting himself" and the "money has been spent buying up airtime, employing people in youth organizations connected to the ruling party, and promoting mayor on social networks." The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau concluded that there are no violations, pointing out that "the published articles didn’t indicate that Ušakovs was a candidate and there was no evidence that these posts had been paid for by the city". Ušakovs called the research biased and unsuccessfully filed a criminal suit for
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
against Re:Baltica. Ušakovs appealed the decision, but his appeal was also rejected.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usakovs, Nils 1976 births Living people Latvian people of Russian descent National Harmony Party politicians People from Riga Social Democratic Party "Harmony" politicians Deputies of the 9th Saeima Mayors of Riga MEPs for Latvia 2019–2024 Latvian journalists Russian male journalists University of Latvia alumni University of Southern Denmark alumni MEPs for Latvia 2024–2029