Latvian PM resigns after row over stray Ukrainian drones

(BBC News) Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has resigned following a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory.

She had fired her Defence Minister Andris Spruds last week after two drones crashed down in eastern Latvia, criticising his response and appointing a replacement.

In protest, Spruds’s Progressives party pulled their support for Silina’s governing coalition, causing it to collapse months before a planned general election in October.

“Seeing a strong candidate for the post of defence minister… political windbags have chosen a crisis,” Silina said on Thursday. “I am resigning but I am not giving up.”

The political fallout was triggered by the incursion of three drones into Latvian airspace on May 7 – the second such accident in 2026.

Both Latvia and Ukraine acknowledged that the drones may have been Ukrainian UAVs intended to target Russia whose signals had been jammed, leading them to stray into Latvia.

One drone crashed on the ground while another struck an empty oil product storage facility near the town of Rezekne. The third flew in and out of Latvian airspace.

There were no casualties or injuries – but local residents told media that the official response to the incident had been delayed and insufficient. They said the cell broadcast alert system had not been activated for an hour after one of the drones crashed near Rezekne.

Silina had said after the incident: “Something went wrong. We cannot afford for this situation to continue.”

She said that she had asked Spruds to resign because of the situation in the Latvian defence sector as a whole.

The Baltic country spends 5% of its GDP on national defence, Silina noted, which she said entailed a “much higher level of responsibility toward society… that requires clear results.”

President Edgars Rinkevics said he would take a decision on the “quickest possible formation” of a new government on May 15.

Silina was appointed Latvia’s prime minister in September 2023, heading a three-party coalition government.

Her government has been steadfast in its support of Ukraine against Russia.

Latvia has significantly accelerated its defence capabilities and officially reintroduced compulsory military service a year after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy21k5917jo