Valdis Zatlers (/ˈvældɪs ˈzætlərz/; born 22 March 1955) is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011.

[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.

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.

[10] In the referendum, 94% of the voters had supported Zatlers' decision, and Under the relevant sections of the Constitution of Latvia the Saeima was dismissed and new parliament elections organized.

[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.

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.