Kulbergs’ Pro-Ukraine Party Wins Latvian Election
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ centrist, pro-Ukrainian United List party has won Latvia’s parliamentary election, capturing 36.6% of the vote with 88% of ballots counted. The decisive outcome outperformed pre-election polling, securing a mandate for Kulbergs to maintain 5% GDP defense spending and steadfast military aid for Ukraine, even as coalition negotiations will be required to form a…
In Latvia's recent parliamentary election, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs' pro-Ukraine United List party emerged victorious, according to partial results. With 88% of votes counted, United List secured 36.6% of the vote, trailing behind the populist Latvia First party with 13.4% and the pro-Russian Sovereign Power party at 11.6%.
Latvian First had targeted the sizable ethnic Russian minority in the country leading up to the election. The United List's leader expressed his satisfaction with the results, stating he would not wish to govern alongside Latvia First. The third-ranked party was the nationalist National Alliance, with 9.1% of the vote. Amid the election, Kulbergs promised to focus on security, support for students, the economy, and pensioners.
He also pledged to maintain defence spending at 5% of GDP. While Kulbergs has been in power since May, his coalition fell apart due to concerns over Ukrainian military drones flying undetected into Latvia, which officials believe were caused by Russia. Kulbergs' rival parties have suggested that Latvia should halt aid to Ukraine and instead prioritize domestic issues, particularly those affecting the Russian-speaking minority.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
