Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds has announced his decision to resign amid criticism over his reaction to the appearance of drones in the country’s airspace. He released a corresponding appeal on social network X on 10 May.
He said he made the decision to protect the Latvian army from being “dragged into a political campaign”.
“In recent days and weeks we have witnessed drone incidents in Latvia and other countries. Foreign drones should not threaten the security of our people. The defence sector has done a lot and will continue to do a lot to strengthen our air defence capabilities,” the minister said.
Spruds, who represents the Progressive Party, said the development of the defence sector is his political responsibility. He assessed that Latvia’s defence capabilities are at a high level, although he admitted that “there is still a lot of work to be done”.
“Unfortunately, it is clear that this situation is no longer being used just to criticise the minister or his party. It is being used to question Latvia’s defence capability, to question the readiness of the Ministry of Defence, the National Armed Forces – Latvian patriots who work every day for Latvia’s security. This is unacceptable to me,” the official added.
At the same time, Latvian Prime Minister from the liberal-conservative Unity party Evika Silinja said she demanded Spruds’ resignation and informed him and his and his government coalition partners about it today.
“This week’s drone incident clearly shows that the political leadership of the defence sector has failed to deliver on its promise of safe skies over our country. The public has entrusted the sector with the largest funding in history – almost 5 per cent of GDP. This is a huge responsibility that requires clear results,” Silinya said.
Spruds, for his part, recalled that the head of government had planned to meet with him on Monday and suggested that she had made her resignation announcement to get ahead of his public announcement.
The other day, Silinja called the military’s response to the case of drones that flew into Latvian airspace unsatisfactory.
On the morning of 7 May, two drones that flew there from the Russian side fell in Latvia. In particular, one of them hit an empty oil tank, causing a fire. The Latvian government summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires to deliver a note of protest over the incident.