Staff turnover – 40 percent. And this is not the only problem of the Latvian army

In a statement republished by Foreign Minister Baiba Broka, it is stated:

"It is important to emphasize – the decision (to dismiss Sprudsa. – bb.lv) was not made in one day. This decision had several serious reasons that accumulated over a longer period:

– high (around 40%) staff turnover in the Ministry of Defense;

– the inability of two state secretaries to work with the minister;

– loss of public trust after recent security incidents (obviously referring to the unpunished drone incursions. – bb.lv), when the historically largest funding is directed to defense – almost 5% of GDP."

It can be noted that the public was certainly aware of the dismissal of the state secretaries and the drone attacks. However, the fact that people do not stay in the Ministry of Defense is surprising.

With funding exceeding 2 billion euros per year, salaries in the military sector should be more than decent. Where there are high salaries, there are queues of those wishing to serve. But no – people are fleeing from the Ministry of Defense. And this is in peacetime. It is hard to imagine what the staff turnover will be like after the first shots are fired.

⚠️ What happened on Sunday?

Prime Minister Evika Siliņa convened an emergency cooperation meeting on Sunday to agree on further steps in the field of defense, as the current security situation in Latvia requires professional and experienced leadership.
The reason was an agreement on changes…

— NEW UNITY (@Jauna_Vienotiba) May 11, 2026