"Evika Silina announced her resignation on Thursday, a day after the Progressives party, her left-leaning coalition partner, withdrew its support over her decision to fire the defence minister, Andris Spruds, a Progressives member. The Progressives' move left Silina, who leads the centre-right New Unity party, without a ruling majority. Latvia's president, Edgars Rinkevics, is due to meet all party representatives on Friday for talks on a new government."
"Announcing her resignation, Silina said: The most important thing for me is the wellbeing of Latvians and our country's security The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe. Spruds was forced to resign on Sunday after Silina said he had lost her trust and that of the public over the handling of incidents involving stray drones, suspected to be from Ukraine, that had crossed into Latvia."
"In the most recent incident, on 7 May, two drones exploded at an oil storage facility. That clearly demonstrates that the political leadership of the defence sector has failed to fulfil its promise of safe skies over our country, Silina said on Sunday. The head of the army said it had not detected the drones, flying in from Russia, for which Silina blamed Spruds for not having overseen fast enough development of anti-drone systems."
"Numerous Ukrainian drones have strayed from Russia into Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since March. Government critics in Latvia say this reveals weaknesses in the country's response to potential threats. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on Sunday the intrusions were the result of Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia."
Evika Silina resigned as Latvia’s centre-right prime minister after her coalition lost support over her decision to fire defence minister Andris Spruds. The Progressives party withdrew backing, leaving Silina without a ruling majority ahead of elections due in October. Spruds was removed after Silina said he lost her trust and the public’s trust over incidents involving drones suspected to be from Ukraine that crossed into Latvia. A recent case on 7 May involved two drones exploding at an oil storage facility, which Silina cited as evidence of failed defence leadership and unmet promises of safe skies. Latvia’s army head said the drones were not detected, while Silina blamed Spruds for insufficient oversight of anti-drone development. Ukraine said the intrusions were caused by Russian electronic warfare diverting drones from their targets.
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