Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics announced Saturday his choice of opposition lawmaker Andris Kulbergs to serve as the nation’s next prime minister, following the resignation of Evika Silina.
Silina announced her departure on Thursday, leading to the breakdown of her governing coalition just months ahead of elections scheduled for October.
Kulbergs represents the United List of smaller parties, which serves as the biggest opposition group in the country’s parliament. His appointment to the top government post depends on legislative approval of both him and his cabinet members.
“Considering recent events, I think the new prime minister should come from opposition parties,” Rinkevics stated during a news conference.
The political crisis began when Silina removed Defence Minister Andris Spruds from his position last weekend following an incident where two Ukrainian drones wandered into Latvian territory from Russia and detonated at an oil storage site. Similar drone incidents have occurred recently in other NATO member countries Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Latvia’s military forces acknowledged they were unable to track the drones as they entered from Russian airspace. Silina held Spruds responsible for insufficient progress in creating anti-drone defense capabilities.
Following his dismissal, Spruds’ Progressives party pulled their backing from Silina’s administration on Wednesday, eliminating her parliamentary majority and making her vulnerable to a confidence vote.
