Jaromír Štětina (born 6 April 1943) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

journalist, writer and politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2014 to 2019 for the Czech Republic, representing

TOP 09 TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...

. He is also known as a war correspondent from the conflict areas of the former Soviet Union countries.

Biography

Štětina was born in Prague in 1943. From 1961-1967, he studied at the

Prague University of Economics and Business The Prague University of Economics and Business (PUEB) (originally: ''the University of Economics, Prague''; '' cs, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, VŠE'') is a triple crown accredited economics and business-oriented public university loc ...

. From 1965 until 1968, Štětina was a member of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...

. In 1968, he started working as a journalist for the newspaper '' Mladá Fronta'', and his time there coincided with the

Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

, during which the Soviet army seized control of the newspaper's offices. Štětina was subsequently fired due to his disagreement with the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

occupation. He subsequently worked as a geodesist, and while working, studied geology long-distance at

Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

, during which he organised 25 geologic or sport tours to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. During the same years, Štětina wrote his most famous book, ''S matyldou po Indu'', on the topic of rafting. In 1987, he started engaging in public speaking. In 1989, he co-founded a syndicate of journalists, ultimately resuming his work as a journalist, at the re-established ''

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record.Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where he covered numerous conflicts in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In 1992, he founded the Lidových novin foundation. During 1993-94 he was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of Lidové noviny. In 1994, he founded the journalism agency ''Epicentrum'', dedicated to war reporting, with fellow journalist

Petra Procházková Petra Procházková (; born October 20, 1964 in Český Brod) is a Czech journalist and humanitarian worker. She is best known as a war correspondent from conflict areas of the former Soviet Union. Procházková studied journalistics at Charles ...

. Štětina has specialised in military conflicts, covering over 20 different conflict zones in Europe, Asia and Africa. He has published 10 books, as well as dozens of documentaries, and many articles.

Political career

In the 2004 elections to the

Czech Senate The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague. Structure The Senate has 81 members, chosen in s ...

, Štětina ran as an independent candidate under the umbrella of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. He won the election, becoming the senator for the

Prague 10 Prague 10 is both a municipal and administrative district in Prague, Czech Republic with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Twin towns *Ballerup, Denmark *Prešov, Slovakia *Nyíregyháza, Hungary *Jasło, Poland Neighbourhood ( cadastral communities ...

district. From 2014 to 2019, Štětina served as a

representing

. On 11 February 2019, he founded his own political party, Europe Together ( cs, Evropa společně), to contest the 2019 European Parliament elections. He said that the party would join the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

if elected. Europe Together eventually finished 15th, with 0.59% of the vote, and did not win any seats. Štětina is a founding signatory of the

Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former ...

Awards

Honours and awards received by Štětina include: * State Order of merit awarded by the Czech Republic * Ferdinand Peroutka Prize * Rudolf Medek Prize * Prize awarded by Johns Hopkins University, USA * Prize of František Kriegel

Notes

External links

Štětina's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stetina, Jaromir 1943 births Living people Politicians from Prague Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic Czech journalists Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) MEPs for the Czech Republic 2014–2019 Prague University of Economics and Business alumni Charles University alumni War correspondents