Jānis KažoCIŅŠ

Jānis Kažociņš is a distinguished fellow at the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga.  

He was the National Security Advisor to the President of Latvia and Secretary of the National Security Council from 2016 through 2023. Previously he was an advisor for the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence on international and cyber security matters. Appointed by the Latvian Parliament, Kažociņš served as Director of the Constitution Protection Bureau for ten years, beginning in 2003. During that decade, in 2011, he was Chairman of NATO’s Civilian Intelligence Committee.    

Born in the United Kingdom of Latvian parents, he was a British Army officer serving in the British Army of the Rhine, Northern Ireland, Norway, Belize and elsewhere. Following renewed independence of the Baltic States, Jānis Kažociņš was the first UK Defence Attaché to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. He formed and commanded the British Military Training and Advisory Team for Central and Eastern Europe in the Czech Republic and later was British Military Advisor to the Chief of Defence of Slovakia. He retired early from the UK Forces in August 2002 with the rank of Brigadier (NATO 1 star) in order to live permanently in Latvia.  

Jānis Kažociņš holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Nottingham University.