Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins arrives for the first day of a summit of European Union-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Summit (EU-CELAC) at The European Council Building in Brussels on July 17, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) 

RIGA - Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins announced his resignation on Monday, blaming a breakdown in relations with parts of his multi-party governing government.

"This Thursday I will submit the resignation of myself and this cabinet to the president," he told a press conference.

Karin blamed coalition partners "blocking the work for prosperity and economic growth" for Monday's decision, according to a posting on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter

Alongside its Baltic neighbors Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia is a leading voice in pushing the European Union and NATO to increase pressure on Russia for its special military operation in Ukraine.

Karins' center-right New Unity party won a national election in October 2022, gaining 26 of 100 seats in a fractured parliament where seven parties are represented.

He blamed coalition partners "blocking the work for prosperity and economic growth" for Monday's decision, according to a posting on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Karins's party governed the European Union nation of 1.9 million, with support from the conservative National Alliance and the United List of smaller parties giving him a narrow parliamentary majority.

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But relations with the coalition soured after it failed to field a joint candidate a presidential election in May.

On Friday, Karins made an abortive attempt to bring more parties into government.

They included the left-leaning Progressives party and the Greens and the Farmers Union, a coalition of conservative groups fronted by Aivars Lembergs, the mayor of port town Ventspils.

Karins' New Unity party plans to select its candidate for prime minister on Wednesday, he said.

President Edgars Rinkevics has responsibility for giving a mandate to a new prime minister to try to form a government. That candidate would also face a parliamentary vote of confidence.

Latvia's next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2026.