May 14 (UPI) — Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Wednesday after a political battle stemming from Ukrainian drones breaching Latvia’s airspace.
Silina fired Defense Minister Andris Spruds last week because two drones crashed into eastern Latvia on May 7, causing some damage but no casualties. She criticized Spruds’ response to the event and appointed a replacement.
But Spruds is a member of the Progressives party, which was in coalition with Silina’s center-right Unity Party. In protest, the Progressives pulled their allegiance from the coalition, leaving Silina without a majority in Parliament.
“Seeing a strong candidate for the post of defense minister … political windbags have chosen a crisis,” the BBC reported Silina said Thursday. “I am resigning but I am not giving up.”
Silina became prime minister in September 2023 with a four-party coalition government. Latvia supports Ukraine in the war against Russia.
The drone incursion was the second such incident this year. Latvia and Ukraine said they believe the drones were Ukrainian and were intended for Russia, but their signals got jammed causing them to fly into Latvia, the BBC reported.
One drone hit an empty oil storage facility near Rezekne, and another crashed to the ground causing no damage. A third flew into Latvian airspace and then flew out.
Local residents told the BBC that their cell phone broadcast alert system wasn’t activated for an hour after a drone crashed.
After the incident, Silina said, “Something went wrong. We cannot afford for this situation to continue.”
Because Latvia spends 5% of its GDP on defense, Silina said it requires a “much higher level of responsibility toward society … that requires clear results.”
On Sunday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha offered help to the Baltic states and Finland to detect and prevent drone incursions, Euro News reported. Ukraine has developed a sophisticated air defense system.
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