Latvia’s Government Collapses – After Row Over Ukrainian Drones

Latvia’s liberal Prime Minister Evika Siliņa has announced her resignation following a political crisis triggered by several drone incidents in Baltic airspace linked to Ukraine. The situation caused the governing coalition to fall apart just months before the country’s parliamentary elections in October.

The background to the crisis involves several Ukrainian drones that entered Latvian territory during the spring. Critics argue that authorities failed to protect the country’s borders and that the defense was insufficiently prepared for the threat.

The situation escalated when two drones exploded at an oil depot on May 7. After the incident, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa harshly criticized the defense leadership, stating that the security work had not functioned as promised.

As a result, Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, who belonged to the coalition party Progressives – a social democratic and green party – was dismissed. The decision caused major irritation within the party, which shortly after withdrew its support for the government. Several party members also left the coalition in protest, accusing the prime minister of making Sprūds a scapegoat.

When the coalition lost its majority in parliament, the government’s future became untenable. Siliņa therefore chose to resign, emphasizing at the same time that Latvia’s security must be prioritized in an increasingly uncertain European landscape.

The country’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, is now expected to hold talks with political parties in an effort to form a new government.

Crashed Ukrainian drone in Russia. Photo: Social Media

Ukraine: Russian Jamming Signals

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has defended the country, arguing that Russian electronic warfare is deliberately steering Ukrainian drones off course, causing them to end up in Russia’s neighboring states.

At the same time, there is still considerable uncertainty about how Ukrainian drones managed to make their way into Baltic and Finnish airspace, including with long-range drones, without using neighboring countries’ airspace.

Ukraine maintains that the drones originally operate over Russian territory, but due to Russian electronic warfare and jamming systems, they are diverted from their planned routes and instead end up over NATO countries.

Furthermore, President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Latvia help with experts to strengthen the country’s air defenses after Ukrainian drones crashed there.

Drones Crashed in Finland

At the end of March, Ukrainian drones crashed in Finland as well. Ukraine then also claimed that Russian jamming technology against GPS signals caused the incident in Sweden’s neighboring country. The Ukrainian government further apologized and suggested better coordination with EU countries on the issue – but without going into details.

“It’s important that all of us in Europe coordinate. That’s exactly what we do with Alex,” Zelensky wrote following his conversation with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.