Latvia's parliament approved a four-party coalition headed by centrist Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, giving the European Union and NATO member a new government after the previous administration collapsed. The 100-seat Saeima endorsed the cabinet by 66 votes to 25.
Kulbergs, 47, came from the United List party, which had previously been in opposition. His alliance included New Unity, the party of former prime minister Evika Siliņa. Baiba Braže remained foreign minister, providing continuity in a portfolio central to Latvia's pro-Western policy and its security concerns as a country bordering Russia and Belarus.
Siliņa resigned in mid-May after a coalition partner withdrew support, leaving her without a parliamentary majority. The final rupture followed criticism of the government's handling of several stray drones believed to have originated in Ukraine and crossed into Latvian territory. Defence Minister Andris Sprūds of the Progressives was forced to step down after Siliņa said he had not moved quickly enough to deploy anti-drone defenses and had lost public and political confidence.
The incidents caused limited damage, but they intensified concern over Latvia's capacity to detect and respond to airborne threats. Similar Ukrainian drones headed toward Russia had entered the territory of several northern European countries in recent weeks, with Russian electronic jamming considered a possible reason they went off course. The controversy landed in a coalition already strained by other disagreements.
President Edgars Rinkēvičs nominated Kulbergs earlier in May. The new prime minister said the government's responsibilities included external defense as well as economic, energy and individual security. His coalition was expected to preserve Latvia's alignment with the EU and NATO rather than alter its broad foreign-policy direction.
The cabinet's mandate was necessarily short. Latvia, a country of more than 1.8 million people, was due to hold a parliamentary election on October 3. Kulbergs therefore faced the immediate tasks of maintaining a majority, strengthening confidence in national defenses and managing government business during the months before voters chose a new Saeima. The vote restored an operating cabinet, but it did not remove the security questions that helped bring down its predecessor.
