| Atis Slakteris | |
| Office: | Minister of Finance |
| Primeminister: | Ivars Godmanis |
| Term Start: | 20 December 2007 |
| Term End: | 12 March 2009 |
| Predecessor: | Oskars Spurdziņš |
| Successor: | Einars Repše |
| Office1: | Minister of Defence |
| Primeminister1: | Aigars Kalvītis |
| Term Start1: | 8 April 2006 |
| Term End1: | 20 December 2007 |
| Predecessor1: | Linda Mūrniece |
| Primeminister2: | Indulis Emsis |
| Term Start2: | 9 March 2004 |
| Term End2: | 2 December 2004 |
| Predecessor2: | Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis |
| Office3: | Minister of Agriculture |
| Primeminister3: | Andris Bērziņš |
| Term Start3: | 5 May 2000 |
| Term End3: | 7 November 2002 |
| Predecessor3: | Aigars Kalvītis |
| Birth Date: | 21 November 1956 |
| Birth Place: | Code parish, Latvian SSR (Now Bauska Municipality) |
| Party: | People's party |
| Alma Mater: | Latvian University of Agriculture |
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]
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]