Latvia votes in parliamentary election as security concerns and drone incursions shape race

Security concerns dominate the campaign

Latvia holds a parliamentary election on Saturday, 3 October 2026, to decide the composition of its 100-seat Saeima for the next four-year term. Polling stations across the Baltic nation open at 8:00 a.m. local time (05:00 GMT) and close at 8:00 p.m. Preliminary election returns will emerge within hours of the close of voting, while final seat allocations will become clear after midnight. The election in the country of 1.8 million people follows official warnings of potential Russian aggression and several airspace incursions linked to the war in Ukraine. In response to regional risks, authorities have installed concrete anti-tank barriers known as dragon's teeth along eastern border zones.

Coalition politics and defense spending

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, 47, took office at the end of May 2026 after the previous governing coalition collapsed over its handling of stray drone incidents. That crisis began when two Ukrainian military drones, originally targeting sites in Russia, crossed the border and crashed in Latvia after being deflected by Russian air defence systems. Kulbergs, an amateur rally driver and businessman who leads the centrist United List, has made anti-drone defences and high military readiness central to his platform. His administration maintains defence spending at 5% of gross domestic product, one of the highest figures across the NATO alliance. Pre-election surveys place the United List in the lead with approximately 14% of the vote.

Kulbergs set out his stance on military assistance to Kyiv in an interview with Reuters.

We have to give Ukraine everything necessary right now (so) that they can have the upper hand and win

Opposition platforms and Russian ties

The overtly pro-Russian Sovereign Power party trails closely behind the United List in pre-election polling. Led by Julia Stepanenko, the party campaigns to end financial and military aid to Ukraine, arguing that national resources should focus on domestic living costs and the Russian-speaking minority.

Stepanenko outlined her voters' priorities in an interview with Reuters.

Our voters want peace, to stop looking for shelters, to no longer experience the air alerts

Stepanenko argued that the conflict should be resolved without continued military funding.

The war must not be encouraged in any way, including by financing it... Ukraine must win, but through peace talks

Other parties competing for seats include the populist Latvia First grouping, which advocates pragmatic economic cooperation with Moscow, and the left-leaning Progressives, who draw substantial backing from younger voters.

Domestic pressures and demographic divisions

Voters in Latvia, which joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, face persistent demographic and budgetary challenges. Approximately one in three residents speaks Russian at home, reflecting Soviet-era population policies between 1940 and 1990, while in Daugavpils, the second-largest city, 80% of residents speak Russian. The government allocation of 5% of economic output to defence has placed financial pressure on public services, including healthcare, education, and eldercare for an aging population. Deep political fragmentation among the competing factions means that building a stable multi-party coalition will remain complex after the final ballots are counted.