Latvia's Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned Thursday after a key coalition partner withdrew its support amid a dispute over Ukrainian drones that entered the Baltic country’s airspace.
The drones were on an attack mission across the border in Russia and Ukraine said they crashed into Latvian territory on May 7 after being electronically diverted by the Russian military. One caused a fire at a disused oil storage site in eastern Latvia.
Silina sacked her Defense Minister Andris Spruds on Sunday over the affair. She said Latvia's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the drone intrusions.
Spruds' sacking prompted nine of his allies, fellow members of the left-wing Progressive party, to quit Silina's ruling coalition, alleging she had made him a scapegoat.
Spruds formally resigned Monday and Salina proposed a military officer as his replacement but the Progressive party rejected him.
