The President of Latvia has asked the opposition leader to form a new government Political Affairs

If opposition leader Kulbergs wins, the cabinet would still need to be approved by parliament.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has backed opposition lawmaker Andris Kulbergs to replace Evika Silina in the top post after the prime minister resigned over the Ukraine crisis.

Kulbergs, the leader of the United List of small parties, which forms the largest opposition group in parliament, will take office if lawmakers approve him and his ministers.

“Given what has happened recently, I think a new minister should come from the opposition parties,” President Rinkevics told a press conference on Saturday.

Last week, the former Prime Minister Silina fired his defense minister, Andris Spruds, after two Ukrainian drones strayed into Latvia from Russia and exploded at an oil depot.

The incident is the latest in a series of such incidents for NATO members Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.

The drone incident “showed clearly that the political leadership of the defense has failed to fulfill its promise of a safe sky in our country”, Silina said explaining that Spruds was forced to resign.

In the following days, Silina’s left-leaning ally The Progressives withdrew support from the government, leaving him without a majority. “I’m leaving, but I’m not giving up,” Silina said in a televised speech on Thursday, announcing her resignation.

Silina was the Prime Minister from 2023.

President Rinkevics settled on Kulbergs after meeting with representatives of all parties in parliament, Reuters reported.

The President told the press that he had invited the Kulbergs to form a government. If Kulbergs wins, the cabinet would still need to be approved by parliament.

Kulbergs said he hoped to form a “wider coalition” to lead Latvia until parliamentary elections on October 3.

“The president has given me 10 days,” he told reporters on Saturday.

Earlier, on May 7, two Ukrainian planes took off from Russia, and one of the planes crashed into an oil storage facility in eastern Latvia, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after speaking with Rinkevics at a meeting in Romania on Wednesday that he would send Ukrainian experts to Latvia to help strengthen air defense.