Three Latvian parties sign coalition deal to form government

HELSINKI (AP) — Three Latvian parties have signed a deal to form a coalition government more than two months after a general election in the Baltic country that was shaped by neighboring Russia’s war in Ukraine and economic woes. The new Cabinet will be led by Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’ ruling center-right New Unity party, which won the most votes in the Oct. 1 general election. It will include two smaller junior coalition partners. The parties would control 54 seats in Latvia’s 100-seat parliament. None of the parties catering to Latvia’s sizable ethnic Russian minority, which makes up more than 25% of the country’s 1.9 million people, managed to secure a seat in parliament.