Ukrainian drones led to the resignation of the Prime Minister of Latvia. What you need to know

Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silinja has resigned. This happened a week after a Ukrainian drone crashed on the territory of the country near the border with Russia. This event led to the dismissal of Defense Minister Andris Sprouds and the collapse of the ruling coalition. How the political crisis in Latvia is developing and why it has little chance of resolution — in the Izvestia article.

Arrival of drones

• The political crisis in Latvia began on May 7, when three drones flew into the country's airspace from Russia. One of them soon left the territory, and the other two fell in Latvia. One of them fell into empty oil tanks in the town of Rezekne near the border with the Russian Federation, there were no casualties as a result of the incident. Later, the police reported that two drones had hit the tank farm.

• Initially, the Latvian government blamed Russia for the arrival of drones, but soon Kiev reported that they were Ukrainian drones. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said that Russian electronic warfare systems had knocked the drones off course, which was why they ended up in Latvia. In March, a similar incident occurred in the Kraslavsky Region, when a Ukrainian drone flew in from Russia. Back then, it also did not lead to casualties and destruction.

It came from the sky: the Latvian government resigned

The ruling coalition collapsed due to incidents with Ukrainian drones

• Although the arrival of drones in May was not the first for Latvia, it triggered a chain of events that eventually led to political confusion. Residents of the country were outraged that an alert about an unmanned danger was received after the drones fell. The criticism was caused by the fact that the Latvian armed forces were unable to shoot down the drones. At the same time, the government positions itself as a NATO outpost on the border with Russia and annually increases defense spending, promising protection to residents.

Resignation of the Minister of Defense

• Three days after the arrival of the drones, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds resigned, explaining his decision as a desire to protect the Latvian army from being drawn into politics. Not being a career military officer, Sprouds headed the quota department from the left-liberal Progressive Party, which was part of the ruling coalition with Prime Minister Evika Silini's New Unity and the conservative Union of Greens and Peasants. After the drone incident in March, the opposition had already tried to dismiss Sprouds, but then the deputies of the Seimas did not support her.

• This time, Silina not only accepted her resignation, but also stated that she had made the decision to resign. She stressed that the former minister had lost public trust, and also suggested that the defense department should be headed by a military man. Soon she nominated Colonel Raivis Melnis, who previously worked as a representative of the defense department in Ukraine.

The collapse of the coalition

Silini's actions and tone provoked disagreement from the "Progressives". They summoned the Prime Minister for a consultation and announced the withdrawal of support and withdrawal from the ruling coalition. The party called on Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics to begin the process of forming a new government, the third after the parliamentary elections in 2022. The centrist United List, which is in opposition, also began collecting signatures for Silini's resignation.

• As a result, Silina resigned on May 14. The entire government resigned with her, and she will continue to perform technical duties until a new one is formed. The candidacy of the next Prime Minister will have to be named by Rinkevics and entrusted with the formation of a new cabinet of ministers, which will be supported by the Sejm.

• However, in the current circumstances, this may become an impossible task. Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Latvia on October 3, so the new government will last less than five months. The force that leads it will gain some advantage over the voters, and therefore no other competing party will support it in order not to lose the votes of its own voters.

• It is completely unprofitable for Silini's "New Unity" to take the initiative in forming a new cabinet, since it will inevitably receive fewer ministerial portfolios in it than in the current technical one. At the same time, it is the "National Unity" that has the largest faction in parliament — 26 out of 100 seats. Without it, the ruling coalition will have to unite at least four parties, which makes it a priori unviable. It is most likely that Latvia will be left without a functioning government for almost six months, while urgently needing to address the defense issues that have triggered the current crisis.