Latvia’s parliament on 28 May elected a new centre-right government, weeks after the previous coalition collapsed following, among other things, incidents involving Ukrainian drones that flew into the country’s airspace.
By a majority of 66 votes out of 100, the Saeima approved centrist Andris Kulbergs, 47, as prime minister, who will lead the Latvian cabinet until parliamentary elections on 3 October.
Evika Silinja resigned as prime minister on May 14, after firing the defence minister and losing the support of his party, which was considered a key ally of Silinja’s in the coalition.
Silinja accused former military chief Andris Spruds of not deploying UAV countermeasures quickly enough to prevent two Ukrainian drones from entering Latvian territory.
The drones caused minimal damage but caused widespread concern in Latvia, which is a member of NATO and the European Union. “The duty of the government-guaranteeing Latvia’s security in the broadest sense. This means guaranteeing the external security of the state, economic security, energy security, as well as the feeling of security of the people in their country,” Kulbergs said in a speech before the Saeima vote.
Several drones have recently gone down in Latvia, as well as in Estonia and Lithuania. The Ukrainian side noted that the drones flew into the territory of the Baltic states due to the actions of Russian electronic warfare (REB) systems. The foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia also accused Russia of deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested sending experts to Latvia in particular to help it strengthen its air defence systems.