Latvia PM Silina resigns after dispute over stray Ukrainian drones

Latvia’s Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key coalition partner withdrew its support amid a dispute over Ukrainian drones that entered the Baltic country’s airspace.

The drones were on an attack mission across the border in Russia and Ukraine said they crashed into Latvian territory on May 7 after being electronically diverted by the Russian military. One caused a fire at a disused oil storage site in eastern Latvia.

Silina sacked her Defense Minister Andris Spruds on Sunday over the affair. She said Latvia’s anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the drone intrusions.

Spruds’ sacking prompted nine of his allies, fellow members of the left-wing Progressive party, to quit Silina’s ruling coalition, alleging she had made him a scapegoat.

Spruds formally resigned Monday and Salina proposed a military officer as his replacement but the Progressive party rejected him.

Their withdrawal left her government with just 41 seats in the 100-seat parliament and opposition parties said they would call a vote of confidence just five months out from legislative elections.

In a further blow Thursday, Armands Krauze, the minister for agriculture, from the Union of Greens and Farmers, was briefly detained as part of ongoing enquiries by anti-corruption body KNAB into state aid to firms in the forestry sector.

Drone intrusions

Silina, from the Unity party, had been prime minister since September 2023.

Announcing her resignation, she told a press conference: “The most important thing for me is the well-being of Latvians and the security of our country.”

She added: “We are fully aware of the times we are all living in. The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe.”

President Edgars Rinkevics has said he will meet party leaders Friday for talks on a new government.

Several Russian and Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A Ukrainian drone fell in Latvia on March 25.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian ports and energy facilities in the region in recent months.

The drone intrusions have not caused victims, but they have exposed weaknesses in Latvia’s air defense system.

Following talks with Rinkevics at a summit in Bucharest Wednesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would send experts to Latvia to help with their air defenses.

Ukraine would also work with Latvia “to build a multi-layered air defence system against different types of threats,” he said.

Rinkevics said a “long-term” air defense accord would be prepared.

DAILYSABAH