Latvian PM Evika Silina announces shock resignation
RIGA — Latvia's center-right Prime Minister Evika Silina announced on Thursday she would resign from the top job, effectively triggering the collapse of the country's governing coalition just months before an election is due in October.
"I am resigning, but I am not giving up," she said in a televised statement.
The shock departure came after breaches Latvia's air defenses by Ukrainian drones diverted from Russia – and the country's delayed response.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who is tasked by the constitution to select a leader of the government, will meet all parliamentary parties on Friday.
Silina, of the center-right New Unity party, was left without a ruling majority in the parliament on Wednesday after the left-wing Progressives party said it was withdrawing its support.
The decision followed the firing at the weekend of Progressives' Defence Minister Andris Spruds over the handling of incidents involving stray Ukrainian drones flying into Latvia from Russia.
