Latvia prime minister resigns days after ‘stray’ drone incursion – Europe live

Meanwhile, we also got an update from Ukraine, with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming that at least five people died in overnight attacks on Kyiv, with more than 70 injured across the country.

10 people are also reported missing.

He said:

“Around 40 people have been injured in the capital, and another 7 in the [wider] Kyiv region. There are already 28 injured in Kharkiv. And two people have been injured in the Odesa region. In total, 180 sites have been damaged across the country, including more than 50 ordinary residential buildings.”

Zelenskyy claimed that earlier today a UN vehicle has been targeted by Russian drones, with “the head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs and eight other staff inside.”

“There must be a just response to all these strikes. And pressure on Moscow must be such that they feel the consequences of their terror there. It is important that global sanctions against Russia remain in place. Russia’s accountability for this war, and our sanctions pressure, must work at full strength. And it is also very important that the world does not stay silent about this terror and stands with Ukraine.”

Let’s just remind you of the background to this resignation (although we obviously covered that on Europe Live when it happened).

AP has a handy note on the events that led to this crisis:

“On 7 May, two suspected Ukrainian drones entered Latvia, one of them crashing at a fuel storage facility.

Latvia’s defence minister at the time, Andris Sprūds, said they were likely Ukrainian drones targeting Russia, which ended up in Latvia by mistake.

Multiple Ukrainian drones headed for Russia had hit the territories of the three countries in the Baltic region since March. Critics say the incidents have shown weaknesses in Latvia‘s ability to respond to military threats.

The Latvian governing tripartite coalition, which also included an agrarian party, had been under strain for months over multiple issues.”

On Sunday, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the incidents in Latvia were “the result of Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia.” He offered Ukraine’s help to the Baltic states and Finland to prevent such incidents in the future.

Latvian public broadcaster LSM has a helpful explainer as to what’s the process after Evika Siliņa resigned as prime minister this morning. Her resignation letter has now reached the country’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, it said.

But the government will continue in its role as a caretaker until a new administration can be agreed, with political consultations set to begin on Friday.

Rinkēvičs is expected to look for a new prime minister who could command a majority in the parliament until the elections in October. In his Facebook post last night, he said the international situation was too “fragile” to not have a proper government in place.

But if the talks drag on, the current government could continue in its technical role for a bit longer.

Slovakia has joined Hungary in condemning the Russian air attacks on the neighbouring region.

Slovak foreign minister Juraj Blanár said in a post on Facebook that the strikes undermine prospects for ending the Russian aggression on Ukraine and “limit the space for peace dialogue.”

Similarly to the Hungarian authorities, the Slovak stresses that the Zakarpattia region is home to many ethnic Slovaks.

The political criticism comes a day after the intensity of the attacks prompted the Slovak authorities to temporarily close its border crossings with Ukraine (Europe live yesterday).

Meanwhile, the new Hungarian government has summoned the Russian ambassador to the country over a massive drone attack in the Zakarpattia region near Hungary’s border with Ukraine.

The region is of special symbolic importance for Hungary as it remains home to many ethic Hungarians.

“The Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Zakarpattia,” the prime minister, Péter Magyar, said during a press conference in Ópusztaszer in southern Hungary when he announced the summons.

Hungary’s new foreign minister, Anita Orbán (no relation with Viktor), will receive the Russian ambassador, Evgeny Stanislavov, and “tell him the same and ask for information on when Russia and Vladimir Putin plan to finally end this bloody war that began more than four years ago,” Magyar said.

Latvia’s Siliņa has now posted a bit more about her resignation to her social media channels, saying it was “a difficult, but honest” decision.

“At the moment, political jealousy and narrow party interests have taken precedence over responsibility,” she said of the (former, I guess) coalition partners from the Progressives, blaming them for “choosing a crisis instead of a solution.”

Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa has announced her intention to resign from the post after her coalition partners, the Progressives, refused to support her dismissal of the country’s defence minister, Andris Sprūds, over a recent drone incident (Europe Live last week).

Siliņa was frustrated with the response to the incident. The Progressives declined to back the replacement minister, Raivis Melnis, and said they effectively no longer supported the prime minister, leaving her with no majority in the parliament.

In a hastily arranged media statement this morning, the prime minister said that while resigning to protest at what she called petty party squabbles, Siliņa emphasised she is “stepping down, but not giving up.”

Her comments will perhaps be read as a hint at her intentions ahead the upcoming parliamentary elections, already scheduled for October.

In the meantime, further talks on getting out of this political crisis are expected shortly, with a potential interim government formed to lead the country until the election.

The country’s president Edgars Rinkēvičs is planning meetings with leaders of parliamentary parties on Friday. “Latvia cannot afford political uncertainty and instability,” he said on Facebook last night, as the crisis deepened.

Things are heating up in Latvian politics today.

A major government crisis has been brewing in the last few days over how a recent drone incursion incident was handled, and early reports suggest prime minister Evika Siliņa might actually step down.

Latvia’s public broadcaster LSM is reporting that she plans to resign from the position.

I will keep an eye on this for you and bring you the latest lines here.

After a tense day of intense attacks on Wednesday, Russia has continued its strikes on Ukraine overnight, with at least one dead and 40 injured in the capital, Kyiv, after reported hits on civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the strikes, saying:

“These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end. It is important that partners do not remain silent about this strike.”

He said that over the last 30 hours, Russia deployed more than 1,500 drones against Ukraine.

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 18 apartments were destroyed as a direct result of the attack, with water supply problems reported in left bank Kyiv. He added that 40 people were injured, with 31 requiring hospitalisation.

Elsewhere, I will be jealous of parts of Europe that are off on bank holiday today looking at the Charlemagne ceremony in Germany, the meeting of Finnish and Lithuanian presidents to discuss regional security, and media reports about potential US troops movement out of Poland (although denied by the Polish government).

Oh, and it’s the second Eurovision semi-final tonight!

It’s Thursday, 14 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.