Dr Ferenc Baja (born 4 July 1955) is a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Environment and Regional Development between 1994-98. He was a

member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 1994 to 2014.

Career

He finished Zipernowsky Károly Secondary Technical School of High Voltage Electrical Industry in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

in 1974 following his military service he studied in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

for a year, then enrolled in the Faculty of Arts of Kossuth Lajos University in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

, where he acquired a degree in cultural education in 1982, then a doctoral title in film aesthetics. While a student, he was employed by the

Hajdú-Bihar County Hajdú-Bihar ( hu, Hajdú-Bihar megye, ) is an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Jász-Nag ...

Motion Pictures Company. He worked for the

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, sk, Níreďháza) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in t ...

City Council from 1983, first as a cultural education officer, then from 1988 as general deputy head of council. From 1990 he was the director of the Nyíregyháza City Gallery. In the 1988 local by-election in Nyíregyháza he was elected council member, then joined the

Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peop ...

(MSZMP). He was a member of the General Assembly of Nyíregyháza from 1990 to 1994. A founding member of the

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...

(MSZP), he has been a member of the National Board since 1990 and has held the position of local government executive of the presidium. He was deputy chairman of the party from 1992 to 1996 and presided the National Board until 1998. In 1992 he was a founding member and Chairman of the Community of Left-wing Municipalities. He ran in the 1990 parliamentary election. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1994 (representing Nyíregyháza, Constituency II,

Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg ( hu, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg megye, ) is an administrative county (Hungarian: ''megye'') in north-eastern Hungary, bordering Slovakia (Košice Region), Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast), and Romania ( Bihor and Satu Mare cou ...

in 1994, and elected from the party's Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Regional List in 1998, the party's National List since 2006). During the term of the

Gyula Horn Gyula János Horn (5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998. Horn is remembered as the last Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs who played a major role in the demolishi ...

Cabinet, he held the position of Minister of Environment and Regional Development. He was Chairman of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County branch of the Hungarian Socialist Party from 1999, then as party director from November 2000 to May 2002. In the parliamentary election in April 2002 he secured a seat from the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Regional List. He held the position of Political Secretary of State of the Prime Minister's Office in charge of civil society relations and information in preparation for

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

since June 2002. In the 2006 parliamentary election he was elected on the National List of the party. From 1 January 2007 to 29 May 2010, he served as Secretary of State of the Prime Minister' Office during the cabinets of

Ferenc Gyurcsány Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports between 2003 and 2004. He ...

and

Gordon Bajnai György Gordon Bajnai (; born 5 March 1968) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2007 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baja, Ferenc 1955 births Living people Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Hungarian Socialist Party politicians Government ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1998–2002) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) People from Kecskemét