Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigns

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has reported that she is submitting her resignation to the Seimas. This means the resignation of the countryʼs entire government.

She wrote about this on her Facebook page.

"Today I have made the difficult but honest decision to resign from the post of Prime Minister. My priority now and always has been the well-being and security of the Latvian people. Parties and coalitions change, but Latvia remains. And my responsibility to society is above all," the Prime Ministerʼs post reads.

She added that "political jealousy and narrow party interests have prevailed over responsibility".

"Seeing a strong and professional candidate for the position of Minister of Defense, political chatterboxes chose not a solution, but a crisis," the politician added.

By “professional candidate”, Silina is referring to Latvian Army Colonel Raivis Melnis, whom she nominated for the position of Defense Minister after the resignation of Andris Spruds. After that, the Progressive Party — the coalition partner of the Prime Minister’s New Unity political force — reported that it would not support the government.

The leader of the Progressive faction in the Seimas Andris Shuvaev called on the countryʼs President Edgars Rinkėvičs to begin consultations on the formation of a new government.

Prime Minister Silinaʼs resignation means that the countryʼs government will continue to act as an interim government until a new one is formed before general elections in October.

What preceded

The political crisis in Latvia began after two drones from Russia flew into the countryʼs airspace on the night of May 7. One of the downed drones hit empty tanks at an oil depot in the city of Rezekne.

Latvia subsequently launched an investigation, and Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds resigned. He explained that he made the decision to protect the Latvian army from being "drawn into a political campaign".

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha later stated that the drones that flew into Latvia were Ukrainian. They deviated from their course due to Russian electronic warfare (EW) equipment.

On May 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Ukraine was sending its experts to Latvia and Lithuania to help protect their airspace.

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