Prime Minister Silina highlighted Latvia’s defense spending at about 5% of GDP, underscoring high expectations for security leadership within NATO.

Latvia’s defense spending places it among NATO’s significant contributors, reflecting ongoing security concerns in the Baltic region amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The government framed the incident as evidence that defense leadership failed to deliver on security promises, reinforcing Latvia’s high NATO defense expenditure at around 5% of GDP.

Spruds’ successor, Colonel Raivis Melnis, will take over the defense portfolio, as stated by the prime minister.

Silina proposed Miltoverst Raivis Melnis to take over as defense minister, and he accepted.

Colonel Raivis Melnis was announced as the new Minister of Defense, succeeding Spruds.

The government confirmed Raivis Melnis as the new defense minister to replace Spruds.

Latvian defense minister Andris Spruds resigned after an incident in which two Ukrainian drones, allegedly diverted by Russia, crossed into Latvia and crashed at oil storage facilities.

Latvia and Lithuania urged NATO to bolster regional air defense as drone incidents linked to Russia persist; the Baltic states note their airspace and land have not been offered for attacks on Russian targets, with earlier Ukrainian drone incidents in the region.

Prime Minister Silina criticized the pace of anti-drone defenses, calling the incident a failure of political leadership in the defense sector.

Spruds suggested the drones may have been launched by Kyiv against Russian targets but landed on the wrong side of the border, while emphasizing airspace defense as a shared responsibility with allies, including NATO.