“I announce my resignation from the post of Prime Minister,†Evika Silina declared at a press conference in Riga. “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 all live in. Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine has changed the security situation across Europe,” she added.
Evika Silina’s position had become untenable for twenty-four hours: her center-right government coalition, in power since 2023, lost its narrow majority in the Saeima following the defection of elected officials from the Progressives party, to which the resigning Defense Minister, Andris Spruds, belongs. Without its nine deputies, the Silina government found itself in the minority with 41 seats out of 100, against 47 for the opposition.
Increased political instability
Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze, of the Alliance of Greens and Farmers, was briefly arrested on Thursday as part of an investigation carried out by the Office for Prevention and Combating Corruption, which further weakened Evika Silina’s cabinet. Progressives applauded the Prime Minister’s decision, declaring themselves ready to participate in discussions on the creation of a new government.
President Edgars Rinkevics has already announced that he will receive all the parties represented in Parliament on Friday. Evika Silina’s government will manage current affairs until Parliament votes for a new cabinet.
Several Russian or Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, former Soviet republics bordering Russia or Belarus, since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Two Ukrainian drones crossed the Russian border on May 7 to crash in Latvia, probably after their guidance system was jammed by Russian air defense. One of them hit an oil storage site in Rezekne, in the east of the country, causing a fire that was quickly contained. Another Ukrainian drone crashed in Latvia on March 25.
Défis sécuritaires et coopération
These incidents caused neither victims nor significant material damage, but they exposed the deficiencies of the country’s air defense, powerless to neutralize a drone wandering in its space before its fall. Evika Silina immediately demanded the departure of her Minister of Defense. Andris Spruds, defended by his party which accused the head of government of having used him as a fuse, nevertheless returned his wallet on Monday. Evika Silina proposed the appointment of a soldier to succeed him, a proposal rejected by the Progressives. She castigated Thursday “a political posture” a few months before the legislative elections scheduled for October.
Ukrainian drones also fell in Estonia and Lithuania. Ukraine is targeting Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland, including ports and refineries, but the drones may prove faulty or diverted by Russian air defenses and crash into the territory of these Kiev-allied countries.
Following an interview on Wednesday with Edgars Rinkevics, during a summit in Bucharest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was going to send experts to Latvia to help with air defense. “We will send our experts to Latvia to exchange experience and provide direct assistance in protecting Latvian airspace,” he said on social media. “We intend to sign an agreement with Latvia in the Drone Deal format in order to build a multi-layer air defense system against different types of threats,” he said, deeming it “important to work together to strengthen the defense of Europe.”
