Center-right Prime Minister Evika Silinia announced her decision today, having lost the support of a key party in her governing coalition after she pushed out the defense minister blamed for the Baltic state’s failure to prevent recent incursions into its territory.
Her move sparks the collapse of the ruling coalition months before elections scheduled for October.
“I’m resigning but I’m not giving up,” she announced, with her statement broadcast on television. “The most important thing for me is the well-being of Latvians and the security of our country… We are fully aware of the times we live in. The violent war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe,” he stressed.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who under the Constitution appoints the head of government, will meet with all parliamentary parties tomorrow, Friday.
Silinia, who comes from the centre-right New Unity party, was left without a parliamentary majority yesterday when the left-wing Progressive party said it was withdrawing its support. Without the 9 Progressive MPs, Silinia’s government found itself with a minority of 41 seats out of 100, compared to 47 for the opposition.
The decision follows the ouster at the weekend of Defense Minister Andris Spruds, from the Progressives, over his handling of incidents of Ukrainian drones entering Latvia from Russia.
Ukrainian experts
Several Russian or Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, former Soviet republics bordering Russia and/or Belarus, since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Two Ukrainian drones crossed the border with Russia on May 7 to crash in Latvia, possibly after their navigation system was jammed by Russian air defenses.
One of them hit an oil storage facility in Rezekne in the eastern part of the country. A fire broke out from the impact, which was quickly brought under control by the firefighters.
Another Ukrainian drone crashed in Latvia on March 25.
These incidents did not cause casualties or significant material damage. But they highlighted the weaknesses of the country’s air defenses, which are unable to neutralize a drone that enters its airspace before it lands on its soil.
Evika Silinia had immediately requested the resignation of her Minister for Defense. Andris Spruds, who was defended by his party after accusing the prime minister of using him as a scapegoat, tendered his resignation on Monday.
Silinia proposed appointing a military man as his successor, a proposal rejected by the Progressives.
Ukrainian drones have also crashed in Estonia and Lithuania. Ukraine targets Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland, such as ports and refineries, but the drones can malfunction or be intercepted by Russian air defenses and crash on the territory of countries allied to Kiev.
After yesterday’s meeting with Edgars Rinkevics in Bucharest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he will send specialists to Latvia to help with air defense.
“We will send our experts to Latvia to exchange experiences and provide immediate assistance in protecting the airspace” of Latvia, Zelenskiy said on social media.
“We plan to sign an agreement with Latvia in the form of a Drone Agreement to build a multi-layered air defense system against various types of threats,” he explained, judging that it is “important to work together to strengthen Europe’s defense.”
Rinkevich confirmed the “involvement of Ukrainian specialists and equipment in the modernization of Latvian air defense capabilities.”
“A long-term defense cooperation agreement will be prepared,” he said.
