Evika Silina Resignation Latvia Follows Coalition Split Over Drone Dispute
Evika silina resignation latvia became reality after Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said she would resign following a coalition rupture over her decision to dismiss Defence Minister Andris Sprūds after a recent drone incident. Her announcement brought down the government months before elections due in October and set up Friday consultations with parliamentary party leaders.
Coalition split in Riga
Siliņa said she was stepping down after the Progressives refused to support her move against Sprūds, the defence minister, and would not back Raivis Melnis as replacement minister. In her hastily arranged media statement, Siliņa said she was resigning to protest what she called petty party squabbles and added: “stepping down, but not giving up.”
The Progressives said they effectively no longer supported the prime minister after the dispute over the response to the drone incident. The dispute centered on the government’s handling of Ukrainian drones that strayed into Latvian territory from Russia, and it left Siliņa without the coalition backing needed to keep governing.
Edgars Rinkēvičs sets Friday talks
Latvia’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, planned meetings with leaders of parliamentary parties on Friday as informal political consultations were expected to look for a new majority in parliament. Rinkēvičs wrote on Facebook, “Latvia cannot afford political uncertainty and instability.”
A potential interim government could be formed to lead Latvia until the election, giving parliamentary parties a short window to settle on whether a new majority is possible or whether the country moves into the campaign period with caretaker arrangements in place.
October election pressure
The resignation matters because it arrives months before elections due in October and follows a dispute that removed the center-right prime minister from office. Siliņa’s decision was tied directly to her effort to dismiss Sprūds, while the Progressives’ refusal to support Melnis showed that the split had widened beyond one personnel move.
For Latvians following the crisis, the immediate next step is the Friday round of meetings in Riga, where parliamentary leaders will try to decide whether a new majority can be built or whether an interim government becomes the only workable path before October.
