Andrius Sytas

Andris Kulbergs has promised to improve governance and reduce public spending.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs' centrist United List is expected to win the largest share of seats in Saturday's parliamentary election but is unlikely to secure an outright majority and will need to cobble together a ​coalition.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in an interview on ‌Wednesday that the state-owned carrier airBaltic took a "gamble" by voluntarily filing for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The drone shot down in Lithuania by an Italian NATO fighter jet on Tuesday was of a ​type used by Russia and was most likely targeted at ‌Ukraine, Lithuania's president said on Wednesday.

Authorities closed Vilnius airport and NATO summoned at least one fighter jet.

AirBaltic's options are "quite limited" if ​stakeholders do not approve external funding, Fitch Ratings told Reuters on Friday, estimating the Latvian ‌airline needs €156 million ($180.80 million) in funding to keep operating in the short term.

Schools in Estonia's Tartu, where children have already experienced a drone heading towards them from the Russian border, are putting protective film on ​windows in case another comes their way.

Lithuania's central bank said on Tuesday that Hungary's OTP Bank's operations in Russia raise "legitimate questions" about its ​planned acquisition of Luminor Bank, the third-largest lender in the ‌Baltics region.

The Latvian ​government is negotiating with a strategic investor for struggling state-controlled airBaltic, Prime Minister Andris ‌Kulbergs told Reuters, as the carrier seeks to shore up its finances and avert the risk of a default.

Latvia has increased security around a hydroelectric dam upstream ‌from its capital Riga and at a huge underground gas storage facility due to intelligence pointing to a threat from Russia, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs told Reuters on Thursday.