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József Szájer

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The native form of this personal name is Szájer József. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
József Szájer
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
Assumed office
1 July 2004
ConstituencyHungary
Member of the National Assembly
In office
2 May 1990 – 19 July 2004
Personal details
Born (1961-09-07) 7 September 1961 (age 62)
Sopron, Hungary
Political party Hungarian
Fidesz (1988–2020)
 EU
European People's Party
SpouseTünde Handó
ChildrenFanni
Alma materEötvös Loránd University

József Szájer (born 7 September 1961) is a Hungarian politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) of the Fidesz party. He resigned as MEP on 29 November 2020 (effective at the end of December)[1] after having been caught by Belgian police on the night of 27 November fleeing a sex party above a gay bar, in violation of local COVID-19 regulations.[2]

Education

Szájer studied at Bibó István College and graduated as legal expert from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest in 1986. He then worked for a decade as lecturer at ELTE's department of Roman Law, also attending Balliol College, Oxford, from 1986 to 1987 and moving for research at the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1989. He passed the bar exam in 1996, after which he practiced as a lawyer.

Political career

Within Hungary

In 1988, Szájer joined Fidesz as founding member of the party, and took part in the Hungarian Round Table Talks from 1989 to 1990. In 1990, he was elected member of the Hungarian Parliament – a seat he would maintain until he became an MEP in 2004. From 1994 to 2002 he headed the Fidesz parliamentary group, and from 1998 to 2002 he chaired the Parliament's European integration committee. He served as vice-president of Fidesz from 1996 until 2003, and from 2000 to 2011 he was member of the Board of European People's Party.

In 2007, he became a founding member of Szabadság kör.

While serving as MEP, in 2010 Szájer was appointed to chair the drafting committee of the new Constitution of Hungary and led the national consultative committee. The draft was written by Szájer on his iPad.[3] The committee put forward several notable changes to the constitution, including a proposal to allow parents to vote in elections on behalf of their underage children and an article banning abortion. The new constitution also emphasised the definition of marriage as being between man and woman, in an apparent repudiation of calls for the recognition of same-sex marriage.[4]

European Parliament

In 2003, Szájer joined the Convention on the Future of Europe and was an observer member of the European Parliament, ahead of Hungary's EU accession. In 2004, Szájer was first elected to the European Parliament and appointed among the vice-chairmen of the Group of the European People's Party and European Democrats. From 2004 to 2007, Szájer served as a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, then as a member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (2007–2014).

In 2008, he became a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.[5] In 2009, re-elected, he was appointed head of the Hungarian EPP delegation (until 2011) and chief whip and vice-chairman of the European People's Party group (until 2020). From 2014 until his resignation in 2020, he was an active member of the Committee on Legal Affairs. Szájer was a substitute for the Committee on International Trade, and a member of the Delegation for relations with the United States.

Awards

In 2000, Szájer received the honour of Knight Commander of St Michael and St George (KCMG) from Queen Elizabeth II.[6][7]

In 2010, he became an honorary citizen of Sopron. Following his scandal, he resigned from the honorary citizenship on 3 December 2020.[8]

Resignation

Szájer resigned as MEP on 29 November 2020 (effective at the end of December),[1] after having been caught by Belgian police on the night of 27 November fleeing a private 25-man orgy above a gay bar, in violation of local coronavirus regulations.

According to a statement from the federal prosecutor's office, he was seen fleeing via a window and a rain gutter's downspout, his hands were bloody, and an ecstasy pill was found in his backpack, though he denied the drug was his. He was unable to produce any identity documents on the spot, so police escorted him to his home, where he identified himself using a diplomatic passport.[9][10]

Szájer left Fidesz on 2 December 2020. Prime Minister and party leader Viktor Orbán told Magyar Nemzet "what our fellow member József Szájer has done does not fit into the values of our political community. We will not forget and refuse his thirty years of work, but his actions are not acceptable and cannot be defended".[11] Fellow MEPs including Márton Gyöngyösi, Manon Aubry, and Terry Reintke accused Szájer and Fidesz of hypocrisy in light of the party's stances on LGBT issues.[12][13]

Personal life

Szájer is married to Tünde Handó, a justice on the Constitutional Court of Hungary.[1]

In 2015, Alliance of Free Democrats member Klára Ungár, who is openly lesbian, stated that Szájer and Máté Kocsis were gay.[14] Kocsis brought a defamation lawsuit against Ungár. He won in the lower court,[15] but lost on appeal.[16] Szájer did not react to the statement.[17]

Books

  • Jogállam, Szabadság, Rendszerváltoztatás[18] (1998)
  • Európa[19] (2004)
  • Szabad Magyarország, szabad Európa[20] (2014)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Pronczuk, Monika; Novak, Benjamin (2020-12-01). "Hungarian Politician Resigns After Brussels Party Raided by Police". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  2. ^ Than, Krisztina; Blenkinsop, Philip (2020-12-02). "Hungarian deputy quits Fidesz after Brussels scandal, Orban says his acts 'indefensible'". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  3. ^ Simon, Zoltán (2011-03-04). "Hungary First to Write a Constitution on IPad, Lawmaker Says". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  4. ^ "Hungary's new constitution: Family friendly, hostile to gays" (in English, French, and German). EURACTIV. 2011-03-24. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  5. ^ "Prague Declaration: Selected signatories". Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism. Archived from the original on 2011-08-25. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  6. ^ "MEP leaps from window as Belgian police raid orgy for breaking coronavirus rules". The Telegraph. 2020-12-02. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  7. ^ "Euro MP for Viktor Orban's anti-LGBTQ party quits after being caught at Brussels gay orgy". National Post. Bloomberg News. 2020-12-02. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  8. ^ "Szájer lemondott soproni díszpolgári címéről". Telex.hu. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  9. ^ Gill, Jo; Fielder, Jez (2020-12-01). "Brussels 'sex party': Hungarian MEP József Szájer admits to Being at Unlawful Gathering". Euronews. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  10. ^ Sally Guyoncourt (2020-12-01). "Hungarian MEP József Szájer admits breaking lockdown rules after police raid 'sex party'". inews. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  11. ^ Nyilas, Gergely (2020-12-02). "Szájer kilépett a Fideszből, Orbán szerint is védhetetlen volt, amit tett". Telex.hu. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  12. ^ Zsiros, Sandor (2020-12-02). "MEPs accuse Budapest of hypocrisy over Brussels sex party scandal". Euronews. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  13. ^ Noack, Rick; Ariès, Quentin (2020-12-01). "Hungarian lawmaker resigns after police apprehend him fleeing reported 'sex party' amid pandemic restrictions". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  14. ^ Gábor, Czene (2015-05-20). "„Viktorka rekedt hangon hablatyol"". NOL.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  15. ^ "XpatLoop.com - Xpat Opinion: Calling Someone A Homosexual Is Defamation In Hungary". xpatloop.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  16. ^ Gábor, Czene (2016-07-08). "Kocsis Máté durván buzizott, Ungár Klára szerint csak magát gyűlöli". NOL.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  17. ^ Szabolcs, Szalai (2020-12-01). "Szájer József sosem reagált még hasonló vádakra". Index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  18. ^ Szájer, József (1998). Jogállam, szabadság, rendszerváltoztatás : beszédek, írások, dokumentumok, 1987-1997 [Rule of law, freedom, regime : Speeches, writings, documents 1987–1997] (in Hungarian). Budapest: DAC Alapítvány. ISBN 963-04-9970-3. OCLC 54404938 – via Moly.
  19. ^ Szájer, József; Laky, Zsuzsanna; Tapasztó, Szabolcs (2004). Európa : az Európai Parlament és az Európai Unió további intézményei és működésük [Europe : The European Parliament and the European Union are further institutions and functioning] (in Hungarian). Budapest: Magyar Egyetemi Kiadó. ISBN 963-86383-9-7. OCLC 909139260 – via Antikvarium.hu.
  20. ^ Szájer, József (2015). Szabad Magyarország, szabad Európa - Beszédek, írások, dokumentumok 1998-2013 [Free Hungary, free Europe - Speeches, writings, documents 1998-2013]. József Szájer. ISBN 9789631214840 – via bookline.hu.

External links

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National Assembly of Hungary
Preceded by Leader of Fidesz in the National Assembly
1994–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of Fidesz in the National Assembly
1998–2002
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