Lettish Parliamentary Election Held Under NATO Protection Amidst Political Turmoil
Latvians vote in a parliamentary election on October 3 under NATO air protection following the May collapse of the ruling coalition over a drone incident.
Newsnibs Staff
- 2026-10-03
- Updated 5:13 AM UTC
(Latvia)
Latvians vote in a parliamentary election on October 3, with about 1.5 million eligible voters, while NATO air policing is in place over the country. German Eurofighter jets are providing airspace protection. According to German news reports, the Federal Ministry of Defence sent four Eurofighters and around 40 soldiers from Tactical Air Force Wing 74 to Lielvarde air base. Swen Jacob, a German officer whose rank is reported as either lieutenant colonel or colonel, commands the contingent there. He said the mission is to keep Baltic airspace free of threats, particularly drones. NATO jets have shot down two drones over Latvian territory.
Latvia borders Russia and Belarus. The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa collapsed in May after a dispute over Ukrainian drones entering Latvian airspace, and Defence Minister Andris Sprūds was at the center of that dispute. Accounts differ on the sequence. One German report says Sprūds resigned over the incursions and the coalition then collapsed under Siliņa. A second says Siliņa demanded his resignation. A third says Siliņa resigned after Sprūds was held responsible for the drones. The Progressives, Sprūds's party, left the coalition afterward, and the government lost its parliamentary majority. Andris Kulbergs of the United List now leads a transitional government.
A poll by the market research institute SKDS, with fieldwork between August 13 and 19 and at least 2,000 respondents, puts the United List first with about 24 percent support. Latvia First, a right-wing populist party, is projected at around 13 percent, and the Progressives are projected at around 13 percent as well. New Unity, Siliņa's former party, is projected to fall below 10 percent. For Stability!, which German reporting describes as pro-Russian, risks failing to reach the 5 percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
Security is a central campaign issue, including among Latvia's Russian-speaking minority. German reporting says that minority is frequently exposed to Russian state media. Reporting also names the future of the state airline AirBaltic and the Rail Baltica railway project as election issues. Rail Baltica is described as stalled in some accounts and delayed in others. Demographic decline is another named issue, which reporting attributes to low birth rates and high emigration.
Voting uses proportional representation with open lists and preference voting. Voters can mark individual candidates as FOR or AGAINST. Seats are contested in five multi-member districts: Riga, Vidzeme, Kurzeme, Zemgale and Latgale. German reporting says seats are allocated using the Sainte-Laguë method, and parties must clear a 5 percent national threshold to enter parliament.
Photo by UX Gun on Unsplash
