Valter Flego (born 15 August 1972) is a Croatian politician who has been 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 ...
for Croatia since 2 July 2019. Previously he had served as the 4th
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
of
Istria County
Istria County (; hr, Istarska županija; it, Regione istriana, "Istrian Region") is the westernmost county of Croatia which includes the biggest part of the Istrian peninsula ( out of , or 89%).
Administrative centers in the county are Pazi ...
from 2013 to 2019, as well as he served three terms as mayor of the town of
Buzet
Buzet (; la, Piquentum; it, Pinguente) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011).
Demographics
In 2011 the total municipal population was 6,133 people, distributed in the following settlements (with population shown in parenth ...
. He is a member of the liberal
Istrian Democratic Assembly
The Istrian Democratic Assembly ( hr, Istarski demokratski sabor, it, Dieta democratica istriana or IDS-DDI) is a centre to centre-left, regionalist, liberal political party in Croatia primarily operating in Istria County.
IDS was founded on ...
(IDS) party.
Early life and education
He finished elementary school and first two years of high school in
Buzet
Buzet (; la, Piquentum; it, Pinguente) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011).
Demographics
In 2011 the total municipal population was 6,133 people, distributed in the following settlements (with population shown in parenth ...
, and 3rd and 4th grade in
Rijeka
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
. After graduation he gained qualification of a machine technician. In 1991 he enrolled in the study of mechanical engineering on the
University of Rijeka
The University of Rijeka ( hr, Sveučilište u Rijeci) is in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, with faculties in cities throughout the regions of Primorje, Istria and Lika.
The University of Rijeka is composed of eleven faculties, one art academy, ...
, where he graduated in 1996 with special honors and became a mechanical engineer. During his studies he received Rector's Award of the University of Rijeka as the best student of the Technical Faculty as well as Truffle Award for Excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities from the town of Buzet.
Career
After finishing studies, Flego got a job in the company ''Istrian waterworks'', and in the same time enrolled in the postgraduate studies on the Rijeka Faculty of Economics which he finished in year 2000 acquiring a scientific master's degree in economics.
After
2001 local elections Flego became the Mayor of
Buzet
Buzet (; la, Piquentum; it, Pinguente) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011).
Demographics
In 2011 the total municipal population was 6,133 people, distributed in the following settlements (with population shown in parenth ...
. After
2005 local elections he was unanimously re-elected mayor by the city council. At the
first direct local elections that were held in 2009 Flego received over 84% of the voters, thus achieving the best result out of all candidates for mayor in Croatia.
In
2013 local elections Flego, who had support from
IDS
IDS may refer to:
Computing
* IBM Informix Dynamic Server, a relational database management system
* Ideographic Description Sequence, describing a Unihan character as a combination of other characters
* Integrated Data Store, one of the first da ...
-
HNS-LD-Green party, ran against
Damir Kajin
Damir Kajin (born 3 February 1962) is a Croatian politician.
Born in Koper, he grew up in Buzet.
Kajin was the Istrian Democratic Assembly
The Istrian Democratic Assembly ( hr, Istarski demokratski sabor, it, Dieta democratica istriana or ...
, who had support of
SDP-
HSU-
SDSS-
HSLS, for the position of Prefect of Istrian county. Eventually he won with 47,25% to 36,24% of votes.
Personal life
Flego is married since 2002 to Branka Flego, an elementary school teacher. They have two sons, Dinko and Ivo.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flego, Valter
MEPs for Croatia 2019–2024
1972 births
Living people
Politicians from Koper
People from Buzet
University of Rijeka alumni
Mayors of places in Croatia
Istrian Democratic Assembly politicians