Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ centrist “United List” party won the parliamentary elections in Latvia by a wide margin, according to the results so far —with 86% of the votes counted—indicating that the Baltic nation is not expected to change its pro-European and pro-Ukrainian stance.
Kulbergs’ party is in first place with 35.5%, while the populist “Latvia First” party ranks second with 13.3%. In third place is the pro-Russian “Sovereign Force” with 11.6%, followed by the "National Alliance," which advocates a hard line against the Kremlin.
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The “Progressives” (6.9%) and “New Unity” (6.1%) have also secured seats in Parliament.
A businessman and amateur rally driver, 47-year-old Kulbergs took office in May, after the previous governing coalition collapsed due to its handling of incidents in which unmanned drones entered Latvian airspace undetected.
Although the drones were Ukrainian, officials blamed Russia, claiming that it caused them to deviate from their planned flight path through jamming.
“We must provide Ukraine with whatever is necessary right now so that they can gain the upper hand and win,” Kulbergs said in an interview with Reuters last month.
During his election campaign, he promised to strengthen Latvia’s capabilities to counter drones and to maintain defense spending at 5% of GDP, one of the highest rates among NATO countries.
Source: APE-MPE
