Valdis Zatlers

Valdis Zatlers (born 22 March 1955) is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007.[1] He became President of Latvia on 8 July 2007[2] and left office on 7 July 2011 after failing to win reelection for a second term.

Valdis Zatlers
Zatlers in 2011
7th President of Latvia
In office
8 July 2007 – 8 July 2011
Prime MinisterAigars Kalvītis
Ivars Godmanis
Valdis Dombrovskis
Preceded byVaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Succeeded byAndris Bērziņš
Personal details
Born (1955-03-22) 22 March 1955
Riga, Latvian SSR
Political partyIndependent (Before 2011)
Reform Party (2011–2015)
SpouseLilita Zatlere
ChildrenGustavs
Felicita
Kārlis
Alma materRiga Stradiņš University
Signature

Medical career

Valdis Zatlers is an orthopedic surgeon, who graduated from the Institute of Medicine in Riga in 1979. After his studies he worked in Riga Hospital No. 2 and became chief of its traumatology unit in 1985. In 1986, between May and June, he was dispatched to Ukraine as a medical service officer to support the cleanup operations following the Chernobyl disaster.

He was the director of the Latvian Traumatology and Orthopaedics Hospital from 1994 and chief of its board from 1998. He left these offices on 5 July 2007.[3] On 27 April 2007, he received the Order of the Three Stars (Trīs Zvaigžņu Ordenis) of the 4th rank for his contributions in care for health of the patients and promotion of orthopedics in Latvia.[4]

Political career
Zatlers with Dmitry Medvedev.

Valdis Zatlers was a board member of the Popular Front of Latvia in 1988–1989.[5] On 22 May 2007, the ruling parliamentary coalition of the Latvian Saeima officially nominated Zatlers as its presidential candidate.[6] Zatlers himself was not a member of any political party, but had signed the manifesto of the People's Party when the party was founded in 1998. On 2 June 2011 an MP from the Greens and Farmers' Union, Andris Bērziņš, defeated the incumbent, Valdis Zatlers, in presidential elections despite Zatlers having previously been expected to win the vote.[7] He founded the Reform Party in July 2011.[8]

Presidency

In his TV speech, on 28 May 2011, President Zatlers called for radical reforms to curb the corrupting influence of oligarchs. He accused lawmakers of being soft on corruption and announced that he would use his constitutional powers to initiate a referendum on the dissolution of the current Saeima. The formal cause of this decision was the parliament's refusal to sanction a search at the home of Ainārs Šlesers, a Saeima member and former minister.[9] Zatlers was the first President of Latvia to use these reserve presidential powers.[10] Under the relevant sections of the Constitution of Latvia if the voters had supported Zatlers' decision, the Saeima would have been dismissed and new parliament elections organized.

Relations with Russia
Zatlers meeting with Medvedev in the Moscow Kremlin.

He attended the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade on Red Square on 9 May, making good on his acceptance of his invitation to attend the 65th VE Day celebrations in Russia that he received in February. In December 2010, Zatlers made his first official state visit to Moscow. The four-day official visit included talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, as well as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,[11] Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.[12] While speaking at the Latvia-Russia Business Forum in St. Petersburg on 20 December, he spoke in favor of the introduction of a visa free regime between the EU and Russia. On the final day of the forum, he laid flowers at the Piskaryov Memorial Cemetery.[13]

Controversy

Before his election he confessed that, as a doctor, he had accepted private donations from his patients. Transparency International has questioned the legality of this practice.[14] Zatlers' supporters point out that donations of this form are accepted by many Latvian doctors. The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) characterized Zatlers' behaviour as improper and has said that it would not finalize its investigation of the matter for several months.[15] In July 2008, KNAB ruled that Zatlers had not violated the law by accepting these donations.[16]

Politicians criticized Zatlers for not paying taxes on these gifts. The State Revenue Service, which had previously requested him to pay taxes on the gifts, unable to fine him for tax evasion, fined Zatlers 250 Lats for missing data in officials declaration.[17][18]

In 2003, Zatlers was the subject of an investigation by KNAB, Latvia's anti-corruption office. The investigation was started based on a request by Āris Auders, a former subordinate of Zatlers who had become the Minister of Healthcare. Auders had accused Zatlers of buying low-quality spinal implants from companies run by Zatlers' wife and the deputy director of Zatlers' hospital. The investigation cleared Zatlers of all charges.[19]

Personal life

Valdis Zatlers is married to Lilita Zatlere and has three children. In addition to his native Latvian, he is fluent in English and Russian.

Honours and awards

National

Foreign

Honorary doctorates

References
  1. "Latvia elects doctor as president". BBC News. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  2. "Unknown surgeon elected president". The Baltic Times. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  3. "Valdis Zatlers' Curriculum vitae". Chancery of the President of Latvia. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  4. "Zatleram piešķirs Triju Zvaigžņu ordeni, Viestura ordeni un Atzinības krustu" (in Latvian). apollo.lv. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  5. "Profile: Valdis Zatlers – surgeon, political newcomer, president". eux.tv. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  6. "Koalīcijas partijas izvirza Zatleru Valsts prezidenta amatam". apollo.lv (in Latvian). 22 May 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  7. "Andris Berzins elected new president in Latvia". BBC News. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  8. "Latvian political parties undergo major upheaval". Baltictimes.com. 12 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  9. "Zatlers nolemj rosināt Saeimas atlaišanu" [Zatlers decides to initiate thedissolution of the Saeima]. Delfi (in Latvian). 28 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  10. "Zatlers ir Latvijas vēsturē pirmais Saeimas atlaišanas ierosinātājs" [Zatlers is the first initiator of the Saeima dissolution in Latvian history]. Delfi (in Latvian). 28 May 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  11. "Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with Latvian President Valdis Zatlers". Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  12. "First visit".
  13. "Accolades for Zatlers in Moscow".
  14. "TI Latvia Asks KNAB, VID To Explain Whether Valdis Zatlers Could be Charged With Criminal Offences for Accepting Payments, Other Benefits From Patients". delna.lv. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  15. "Kalvītis: ārstu 'pateicības' ir valdības, nevis Zatlera problēma". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 30 May 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  16. "KNAB nesodīs Zatleru par ņemtajām pateicībām, taču ierosina jaunu pārbaudi" (in Latvian). 22 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  17. "VID: Zatleram jāsamaksā nodokļi par 'aplokšņu' atlīdzību". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 31 May 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  18. "Zatlers samaksājis 250 latu sodu par neprecizitātēm ienākumu deklarācijā". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 4 July 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  19. "Zatlers ir prezidents". tvnet.lv/LETA (in Latvian). 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  20. 1news. "Президент Латвии награжден орденом "Гейдар Алиев"". 1news.az. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  21. "Odluka o odlikovanju Njegove Ekscelencije Valdisa Zatlersa, predsjednika Republike Latvije, Veleredom kralja Tomislava s lentom i Velikom Danicom". narodne-novine.nn.hr. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  22. "Vabariigi President". www.president.ee. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  23. "Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunnan suurristin ketjuineen ulkomaalaiset saajat". www.ritarikunnat.fi. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  24. "Саакашвили наградил президента Латвии орденом Святого Георгия - Новости Политики - Новости Mail.Ru". 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  25. "Официальный сайт Президента РК :: КАЗАХСТАН". 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  26. "Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentė". grybauskaite1.lrp.lt. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  27. "BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-2009-7333". www.boe.es. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  28. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 502/2011 - Офіційне представництво Президента України". 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  29. "Document 581/2008". zakon.rada.gov.ua. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
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