Latvian prime minister resigns amid row over drone incursions | Latvia
Latvia’s center-right prime minister resigned over his government’s crackdown on Ukrainian drones entering Latvian territory from Russia, toppling his coalition government months before elections in October.
Evika Siliņa announced her resignation on Thursday, a day after her left-leaning coalition partner the Progressives party withdrew its support over the decision to sack Progressives member defense minister Andris Sprūds.
The progressives’ move left Siliņa, who leads the centre-right New Union party, without a ruling majority. Latvian president Edgars Rinkēvičs will meet with all party representatives on Friday for talks on the new government.
Announcing his resignation, Siliņa said: “The most important thing for me is the well-being of Latvians and the security of our country… The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe.”
Sprūds was forced to resign on Sunday after Siliņa said he had lost his and the public’s trust over the handling of incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine and crossing into Latvia.
Most recently, two drones exploded in an oil storage facility on May 7. Siliņa said in a statement on Sunday that this “clearly shows that the political leadership of the defense sector has not fulfilled the promise of safe skies over our country.”
The army’s commander said he was unable to detect drones coming from Russia, for which Siliņa blamed Sprūds for not overseeing the development of anti-drone systems quickly enough.
Since March, large numbers of Ukrainian drones have entered Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia from Russia. Critics of the government in Latvia say this reveals weaknesses in the country’s response to potential threats.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Sunday that the intrusions were “the result of Russia’s electronic warfare, which deliberately diverted Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to send experts to Latvia to help protect the sky.
Sprūds’ dismissal caused nine Progressive party members to leave the coalition, claiming that Siliņa had made him a scapegoat. This left the government with 41 seats in the 100-seat parliament and facing the possibility of losing the confidence vote.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to impact the region, Hungary summoned Moscow’s ambassador on Thursday over a Russian drone attack on Ukraine that killed at least six people and prompted Poland to mobilize warplanes.
In a drastic change of tone from his Moscow-friendly predecessor, Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, said the ambassador would meet the country’s foreign minister, Anita Orbán, who would express Hungary’s “strong condemnation” of the Russian attack. He added that the foreign minister will also ask “when Russia and Vladimir Putin plan to finally end this bloody war that started more than four years ago.”
Zelenskyy said Hungary’s response sent “an important message”. During the previous far-right government, Budapest repeatedly tried to block military aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
While Poland mobilized warplanes, Slovakia closed its border with Ukraine “for security reasons”. Moldova, meanwhile, said a Russian drone entered its airspace and flew for about 180 miles.
