With 66 votes in favor in the 100-seat parliament, Latvian lawmakers on June 5 confirmed Andris Kulbergs, 47, a centrist, as prime minister. He will lead the Baltic nation of over 1.8 million people until the parliamentary election scheduled for October 3.
His predecessor, Evika Silina, resigned in mid-May after one of her coalition partners withdrew support, leaving her without a majority. Silina stepped down after Defense Minister Andris Spruds, a member of the Progressive Party, was forced to resign over the government's handling of multiple incidents involving suspected Ukrainian stray drones that entered Latvian territory.
Silina accused Spruds of not deploying anti-drone defenses fast enough to stop two Ukrainian attack drones that strayed off course, believed to have been jammed by Russia. At the time, Silina said Spruds had lost her trust and that of the public. However, her three-party coalition had been under strain for months over various issues.
The drones caused minimal damage but sparked widespread concern in the former Soviet republic, now a member of NATO and the EU.
Earlier this month, President Edgars Rinkevics backed opposition lawmaker Kulbergs to replace Silina as prime minister. “The government’s task is to ensure Latvia’s security in the broadest sense. That means ensuring the state’s external security, economic security, energy security, but also people’s sense of safety in their own country,” Kulbergs said before the parliamentary vote on June 5.
He also confirmed that outgoing Foreign Minister Baiba Braze would retain her post and appointed a military officer, Colonel Raivis Melnis, as defense minister.
Numerous Russian and Ukrainian drones have crashed in Latvia, as well as in neighboring Lithuania and Estonia, since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to send experts to Latvia to help strengthen its air defenses.
Latvia’s new four-party coalition is expected to hold a solid parliamentary majority and pursue a pro-EU, pro-NATO course. The coalition parties stress the need to strengthen the military and borders of the country of 1.8 million people.
“There is broad consensus on foreign policy priorities,” political scientist Nils Muiznieks told AFP, adding that the new government is also likely to maintain strong solidarity with Ukraine.
