34 ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT political rights in a manner prejudicial to the security of the State or the foundations of a democratic society” (see X v. Belgium, p. 253). 110. In the case of Van Wambeke v. Belgium (no. 16692/90, Commission decision of 12 April 1991, unreported), the Commission declared inadmissible, on the same grounds, an application from a former member of the Waffen-SS, convicted of treason in 1945, who complained that he had been unable to take part in the elections to the European Parliament in 1989. In the case of Glimmerveen and Hagenbeek v. the Netherlands (nos. 8348/78 and 8406/78, Commission decision of 11 October 1979, DR 18, p. 187), the Commission declared inadmissible two applications concerning the refusal to allow the applicants, who were the leaders of a proscribed organisation with racist and xenophobic tendencies, to stand for election. On that occasion, the Commission referred to Article 17 of the Convention, noting that the applicants “intended to participate in these elections and to avail themselves of the right [concerned] for a purpose which the Commission [had] found to be unacceptable under Article 17” (ibid., p. 197). In that case it was also underlined that the standard of tolerance does not prevent a democratic society from taking steps to protect itself against activities intended to destroy the rights or freedoms set forth in the Convention. Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, which enshrines the individual’s capacity to influence the composition of the law-making power, does not therefore exclude that restrictions on electoral rights are imposed on an individual who has, for example, seriously abused a public position or whose conduct threatened to undermine the rule of law or democratic foundations. 111. In the context of employment restrictions imposed on public officials on political grounds, the Court has held that Article 10 of the Convention may apply in connection with their dismissal. A violation of Article 10 was found in this respect in Vogt (cited above, §§ 43-44), where the applicant was dismissed as a civil servant in relation to her specific activities as a member of the Communist Party in West Germany. However, in Volkmer v. Germany ((dec.), no. 39799/98, 22 November 2001) and Petersen v. Germany ((dec.), no. 39793/98, ECHR 2001-XII), the Court declared inadmissible as unsubstantiated the applicant civil servants�� complaints under Article 10 about their dismissal on account of their collaboration with the regime and secret services of the former German Democratic Republic. In the case of Sidabras and Džiautas v. Lithuania (nos. 55480/00 and 59330/00, §§ 51-62, ECHR 2004-VIII), the Court found a violation of Article 14 taken in conjunction with Article 8 as regards the existence of wide-ranging restrictions barring former KGB officers in Lithuania from access to various spheres of employment in the private sector, which were introduced almost a decade after the re-establishment of Lithuanian independence. At the same time, it is to be noted that those applicants’ dismissal from their positions as, respectively, a tax inspector