Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has endorsed opposition lawmaker Andris Kulbergs to take over as prime minister, following the resignation of Evika Silina. Silina stepped down after an incident involving Ukrainian drones.
Kulbergs, who leads the United List of smaller parties—the largest opposition bloc in parliament—will assume office if approved by lawmakers along with his proposed cabinet.
“Considering recent events, I think the new prime minister should come from opposition parties,” President Rinkevics stated at a news conference on Saturday.
The previous weekend, former Prime Minister Silina had dismissed her defence minister, Andris Spruds, after two Ukrainian drones, having strayed into Latvia from Russia, exploded at an oil storage facility.
This incident marks the latest in a series of similar occurrences within NATO member states Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Silina explained Spruds’s forced resignation by stating that the drone incidents “clearly demonstrated that the political leadership of the defence sector has failed to fulfil its promise of safe skies over our country.”
In the days that followed, The Progressives party, a left-leaning coalition partner of Silina, withdrew its support from the government, leaving her without a majority. “I am resigning, but I am not giving up,” Silina announced in a televised statement on Thursday, confirming her departure.
Silina had served as prime minister since 2023.
Reuters news agency reported that President Rinkevics decided on Kulbergs after consultations with representatives from all parliamentary parties.
The president informed reporters that he had invited Kulbergs to form a government. Should Kulbergs succeed, the cabinet lineup would still require parliamentary approval.
Kulbergs expressed his hope to establish an “enlarged coalition” to govern Latvia until parliamentary elections scheduled for October 3.
“The president has given me 10 days,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Earlier, on May 7, two Ukrainian drones flew over from Russia, with one crashing into a petrol depot in eastern Latvia, causing a fire that was quickly brought under control.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after speaking with Rinkevics at a summit in Romania on Wednesday, stated he would send Ukrainian experts to Latvia to assist in bolstering its air defences.
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