Latvia government collapses after drone crisis, prime minister resigns

Latvia’s coalition government collapsed after Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned, turning a drone incident into a political crisis just months before the country’s October parliamentary election. Silina’s New Unity party lost its governing majority after the Progressives withdrew support, leaving the cabinet unable to continue in its current form.

The immediate rupture came after Defence Minister Andris Spruds was forced out over the handling of two drones that entered Latvian airspace from Russian territory on May 7. One of the drones struck an oil storage facility near Rēzekne in eastern Latvia, but no one was injured. The incident raised sharp questions about air-defence readiness, crisis response and whether the government moved quickly enough to protect Latvian territory on NATO’s eastern edge.

Silina said in a televised statement that she was resigning but not giving up. President Edgars Rinkevics is now responsible for consulting parliamentary parties and appointing a new government leader, with those talks set to begin at Riga Castle. The constitutional process puts the presidency at the center of a search for a replacement at a moment when Latvia’s security and domestic politics are both under strain.

The political fallout has widened within an already fragile coalition. Spruds was a member of the Progressives, and his removal did not restore confidence among allies who had grown increasingly uneasy about the government’s handling of the drone episode. Progressives faction leader Andris Šuvajevs said the government could fall if Silina’s cabinet faced a no-confidence vote, underscoring how quickly the dispute hardened into a test of parliamentary support.

The crisis also matters beyond Riga. Latvia and Lithuania pressed NATO to strengthen air defences after the May 7 incident, a sign that Baltic leaders see drone incursions as an alliance-wide vulnerability rather than a local one. Latvia’s Saeima has 100 seats, and the next election is due no later than October 3, 2026, the first Saturday in October. The newly elected parliament is scheduled to convene in November, leaving a narrow window for any new coalition to stabilize before the vote.