Latvia’s parliament has approved a new government led by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, replacing Evika Siliņa who resigned following a national security crisis and the collapse of her ruling coalition. The new ruling bloc includes Kulbergs’ green-conservative and regionalist United List alliance, the right-wing National Alliance, Siliņa’s centre-right New Unity party and the green-conservative Union of Greens and Farmers. The coalition balances traditional centre-right and conservative factions, maintaining a stable majority in the Saeima while sidelining the centre-left Progressives.
The composition of the Kulbergs Cabinet relies heavily on veteran political figures from the four coalition parties to ensure administrative stability before the upcoming October parliamentary elections. Within the Prime Minister’s inner circle from the United List alliance, former Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis has returned to government as Minister of Finance. Influential member Edvars Smiltens has joined as Minister of Justice and parliamentary group leader Edgars Tavars has been appointed to head the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development. Baiba Braže of the New Unity party will remain Foreign Minister, while security portfolios have shifted toward conservative hardliners: the National Alliance’s Jānis Dombrava will take over the Ministry of the Interior and New Unity’s Rihards Kozlovskis is transitioning from the Interior Ministry to head the Ministry of Transport.
The primary focus of the new government centres heavily on national security, border protection and military readiness following recent airspace breaches. For the business community, the administration offers a combination of short-term regulatory predictability and underlying economic anxiety.
The new cabinet will operate within a very tight timeframe, serving primarily as an interim caretaker before national elections scheduled by 3rd October. Kulbergs has just over four months to stabilize national security, implement urgent border measures and reassure a public anxious about the war in Ukraine. In parallel, recent polling shows a deeply fragmented political landscape ahead of the election, with the election’s outcome to depend not just on which party finishes first, but on which political bloc can successfully secure a stable, multi-party majority.
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