Atis Slakteris

Atis Slakteris (born 21 November 1956, Code parish) is a former Minister of Defence of Latvia, and Minister of Finance from December 2007 to March 2009.[1]

Atis Slakteris
Minister of Finance
In office
20 December 2007 – 12 March 2009
Prime MinisterIvars Godmanis
Preceded byOskars Spurdziņš
Succeeded byEinars Repše
Minister of Defence
In office
8 April 2006 – 20 December 2007
Prime MinisterAigars Kalvītis
Preceded byLinda Mūrniece
Succeeded byVinets Veldre
In office
9 March 2004 – 2 December 2004
Prime MinisterIndulis Emsis
Preceded byĢirts Valdis Kristovskis
Succeeded byEinars Repše
Minister of Agriculture
In office
5 May 2000 – 7 November 2002
Prime MinisterAndris Bērziņš
Preceded byAigars Kalvītis
Succeeded byMārtiņš Roze
Personal details
Born (1956-11-21) 21 November 1956
Code parish, Latvian SSR
(Now Bauska Municipality)
Political partyPeople's party
Alma materLatvian University of Agriculture

Controversy

In late 2008, Slakteris gave an interview with Bloomberg about Latvia's economic crisis, during which he answered a question regarding the causes of Latvia having come to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund as "nothing special". The phrases "nasing spešal" (mocking Slakteris' poor English and heavy accent during the interview), "we will be taupīgi (Latvian for "frugal")" and "my answer will be, but I will not say" became popular memes in Latvia.[2][3] Slakteris admitted that his English language skills were not perfect, but said that the fragments with the phrases shown on TV3 had been taken out of context and believed the controversy was politically engaged.[4]

Notes
  1. "History". Finanšu Ministrija.
  2. Mocking T-shirts, penguin jibes lighten mood in Latvia
  3. Gasuna, Gunta (17 March 2009). "Nothing Special as Latvia penguins lampoon leaders". Reuters. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  4. "Slakteris: the «Nothing special» act was politically engaged". Baltic News Network. LETA. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
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