Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa has announced her resignation, triggering the collapse of her three-party coalition government less than five months before parliamentary elections.
Siliņa told a press conference in Riga on May 14 that she had handed her resignation letter to President Edgars Rinkēvičs. The move came a day after her left-wing coalition partner, the Progressives, withdrew support over her handling of recent Ukrainian drone incursions into Latvian territory.
“At this moment, political jealousy and narrow party interests have taken precedence over responsibility,” she said. “This is not an easy decision, but it is the right decision in this situation.”
The crisis began on May 7, when two drones flying in from Russia crossed the border into Latvia and hit oil storage facilities in the east of the country. Kyiv said the unmanned aircraft were Ukrainian and had been diverted by Russian electronic warfare.
Siliņa, who leads the centre-right New Unity party, dismissed Defence Minister Andris Sprūds on May 10. She said Latvia’s anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the intrusion.
“The drone incident this week clearly demonstrated that the political leadership of the defence sector has failed to fulfil its promise of safe skies over our country,” she wrote on X. She added that Sprūds had lost her trust and that of the public.
Sprūds, a member of the Progressives, rejected that account and said he had already decided to step down. He accused the Prime Minister of rushing the announcement for political reasons and of failing to inform him and his party in advance.
The dispute split the ruling alliance, which also included the conservative Union of Greens and Farmers. On May 13, Progressives leader Andris Šuvajevs said the party would no longer back Siliņa, depriving her of a parliamentary majority in the Saeima, the Latvian parliament.
Siliņa had nominated Colonel Raivis Melnis to replace Sprūds at the defence ministry. The Progressives, though, refused to support the appointment, prompting her to give up on keeping the coalition together.
The President received the resignation letter on Thursday and is due to begin consultations on Friday with Saeima factions on forming a new cabinet. The outgoing government remains in place until a successor is approved.
Latvia, a European Union and NATO member that borders Russia, has been one of Kyiv’s most vocal backers since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It spends nearly 5 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence – one of the highest ratios in the alliance – and has supplied thousands of drones to Ukrainian forces.
Several drones from Russia and Ukraine have crashed on Latvian soil since the start of the Ukraine war. Latvia and neighbouring Lithuania have called on NATO to strengthen air defences on its eastern flank.
Parliamentary elections are due by October 3, 2026.
