Szabolcs Fazakas (26 October 1947 – 31 March 2020) was a
Hungarian politician and diplomat.
Profession
Fazakas was born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, and earned a degree of external trade in 1971, graduating from Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences (present-day
Corvinus University of Budapest). He taught as an assistant lecturer there from 1971 to 1973. Earning PhD, he was employed by the Ministry of External Trade (then Ministry of Trade) between 1973 and 1990, where he worked as a rapporteur for economic relations with
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, then commercial counselor at
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, finally Head of Department responsible for
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
affairs and relations. He served as Deputy Minister of Trade, and was also Head of the Secretariat for International Economic Relations from 1989 to 1990.
[Bölöny, József – Hubai, László: Magyarország kormányai 1848–2004 abinets of Hungary 1848–2004 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 2004 (5th edition). p. 318.]
Following the
transition to democracy
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
, Fazakas joined the private sector. He functioned as regional representative of the
Österreichische Industrieholding (ÖIAG) in Budapest from 1990 to 1995. Beside that, he was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the European Commercial Bank Limited Liability Company from 1994 to 1995.
[
]
Political career
Fazakas entered government service in the cabinet of Prime Minister Gyula Horn, when he held the position of Secretary of State for Administrative Affairs in the Ministry of Industry and Trade between 25 September 1995 and 15 July 1996. After that, he briefly served as Hungarian Ambassador to Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
from 30 August to 29 October 1996.[ Returning to Hungary, he functioned as Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism from 29 October 1996 to 8 July 1998, until the 1998 parliamentary election. After the electoral defeat 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), Fazakas returned to the private sector. He was regional representative of the DaimlerChrysler automotive corporation between 1998 and 2002. He functioned as Chairman of the Board of GarAgent-Excel from 2000.[
After the 2002 parliamentary election, when MSZP was able to form a government, Fazakas became 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 repre ...
(MP) between 2002 and 2004, obtaining a mandate from the party's national list. He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.Interparliamentary Union
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other ...
from 2002 to 2004.[Former Members of the European Court of Auditors]
/ref> He was then 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 ...
(MEP) for the Hungarian Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2009. On 23 July 2004, he was elected Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, holding the position until 30 January 2007, when he was elected one of the quaestors of the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
for the second half of the term (2007–2009). His name appeared in the 6th place in the candidacy list of MSZP during the 2009 European Parliament election in Hungary
The 2009 European Parliament election in Hungary was the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament in 2009. Hungary delegated 22 members to the European Parliament based on the Nice treaty and the election took place on 7 ...
, but the party gained only 4 seats, thus Fazakas lost his mandate.
Szabolcs Fazakas was elected to the European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...
on 7 May 2010, replacing Gejza Halász. During his nomination, Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch charged that he had voluntarily joined the Hungarian Secret Service during the communist dictatorship and worked there for more than 13 years as a secret agent, and was also involved in a suspicious arms procurement. Fazakas denied the charges and sued Deutsch. His mandate expired on 31 August 2017, he was replaced by Ildikó Pelczné Gáll.[
]
Personal life
He was married to Judit Benkő. They had two sons, Gergely and Balázs.- Fazakas Szabolcs vagyonnyilatkozata - 2003. február
/ref>
References
Sources
*MTI Ki Kicsoda 2009, Magyar Távirati Iroda, Budapest, 2008, p. 310.
Fazakas Szabolcs official page
Fazakas Szabolcs on europarl.europa.euFazakas Szabolcs bio on mszp.hu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fazakas, Szabolcs
1947 births
2020 deaths
Hungarian Socialist Party politicians
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Hungarian Socialist Party MEPs
MEPs for Hungary 2004–2009
Ambassadors of Hungary to Germany
Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006)
Government ministers of Hungary