Latvian Prime Minister wins elections clouded by Ukraine war

Partial results showed that the centrist, pro-Ukraine United List party, led by Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kohlbergs, won the parliamentary elections that took place on Saturday by an unexpectedly large margin, with many voters nervous due to warnings of possible Russian aggression. With 72 percent of the votes counted, the United List received 36.5 percent, followed by the populist Latvia First party, which adopts the style of the “Make America Great Again” movement, with 13.0 percent.

The Latvia First party sought to win the support of the country's large ethnic Russian minority in the run-up to the elections. The Baltic states have been warning for months about Russia launching sabotage, electronic and other hybrid attacks on parts of Europe with the aim of spreading fear and undermining support for Ukraine, but Western officials dismiss fears of Moscow's ability to launch a direct attack on NATO.

Latvia is a member of the alliance. Russia says that these accusations are baseless and are the result of a wave of unjustified and anti-Russian panic. Responding to exit poll results earlier in the evening, Kohlbergs said he hoped to remain prime minister but added that he did not want to govern with the Latvia First party.

According to partial results, he will still need allies in the coalition to form a government.

"This is a remarkably good result. I did not expect such a result," Kohlbergs said at his party headquarters in Riga. The openly pro-Russian Sovereign Power Party ranked third in the opinion polls with 10.5 percent, followed by the National Nationalist Alliance, which calls for a hard-line approach to the Kremlin, with 9.6 percent.