László Tokés
Encyclopedia
László Tőkés is a Romania
n politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament
(since 2004) and Vice President of the European Parliament
(since 2010).
A bishop
of the Királyhágómellék Reformed Ecclesiastical District of the Reformed Church in Romania
, he is also a former honorary president of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
, and a founding member and president of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania.
An effort to transfer him from his post as an assistant pastor
in Timişoara
and to evict him from his church flat helped trigger the Romanian Revolution of 1989
, which overthrew Nicolae Ceauşescu
and spelled the end of the communist era
in Romania.
He is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group
, and co-sponsored the European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism
.
, László Tőkés is the son of István Tőkés, professor of theology and former deputy bishop of the Reformed Church. He is married to Edit Joó, with whom he had three children: Sons Máté and Márton, and daughter Ilona. Máté Tőkés, who was only three years old during the Revolution of 1989, later collected the memories of the friends, relatives, and other participants of the events, and in 2005 wrote Egymás tükrében ("In Each Other's Mirror"), a book about his parents and the hardships of the family.
In March 2010 his wife filed for divorce. Edit Tőkés claimed her husband "terrorized and psychically traumatized" her. She accused the bishop of "numerous affairs" and "absurd habits". The divorce sentence was given in February 2011 The charges of infidelity and mistreatment were confirmed by a former counselor of the priest and the divorce sentence was given in February 2011.
, he contributed to the clandestine Hungarian-language
journal Ellenpontok ("Counterpoints"; 1981-82). An article there on abuses of human rights
in Romania appears to have been the occasion of his first harassment by the Securitate
. He was reassigned to the village of Sânpetru de Câmpie
, but refused to go and instead spent two years living in his parents' house in Cluj-Napoca
.
His situation was discussed in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which led indirectly to his appointment to be assistant pastor in Timişoara, where he gave sermons that opposed the Romanian national government's program of systematization, which proposed radical restructuring of the infrastructure of Romanian towns and villages. This was seen by Hungarians as a particular threat to their villages, although Tőkés' sermons did not single this out, calling for solidarity between Hungarians and Romanians.
In the summer of 1988, he organized opposition to systematization among Hungarian Reformed Church pastors, again drawing the strong attention of the Securitate. After the Securitate objected to a cultural festival organized on October 31, 1988 (the Day of Reformation), jointly with the amateur Hungarian-language theatre group "Thalia", Bishop László Papp banned all youth activities in the Banat
(the region of which Timişoara is part). Tőkés nonetheless collaborated with the bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church
on another festival in spring 1989.
On March 31, 1989, Papp ordered Tőkés to stop preaching in Timişoara and move to the isolated parish of Mineu. Tőkés refused the order, and his congregation supported him. The bishop began civil proceedings to evict
him from his church flat. His power was cut off and his ration book taken away, but his parishioners continued to support and provision him, some of them being arrested and beaten for their trouble. At least one, Ernő Ujvárossy, was found murdered in the woods outside Timişoara on September 14, and Tőkés's father was briefly arrested.
A court ordered Tőkés' eviction on October 20. He appealed. On November 2, four attackers armed with knives broke into his flat; Securitate agents looked on while he and his friends fought off the assailants. The Romanian ambassador was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and told of the Hungarian government's concern for his safety. His appeal was turned down, and his eviction set for Friday December 15.
Shortly afterwards, workmen arrived to repair the damaged windows and door to the flat; presumably the mayor was hoping to defuse matters, but the crowds actually grew, with young Romanians joining the Hungarian parishioners. Tőkés spoke with the mayor and again urged the crowd to disperse. The crowd remained; the mayor stormed away, returned at noon, and promised that Tőkés would not be evicted. The crowd remained; some of them accused Tőkés of collaborating with the authorities and demanded a written retraction of Tőkés’ transfer and eviction. The mayor promised to produce this within an hour; if he intended actually to do so, it proved impossible on a Saturday.
After various negotiations with the mayor and the deputy mayor and the involvement of various delegations, the mayor gave an ultimatum for the crowd to disperse by 5 p.m. or face fire-brigade water cannons. Tőkés again pleaded with the crowd to disperse, but, possibly convinced that he was acting under threats from the Securitate, they refused. The crowd beckoned him to leave his apartment and come down to the street. He refused, presumably fearful of being seen as the leader of this resistance.
Five p.m. came and went without water cannons. By 7 p.m. the crowds extended for several blocks and included many students from the local polytechnic and university, Romanians and Hungarians in a human chain, first singing hymns, but about 7:30 launching into the patriotic song Deşteaptă-te, române!
("Wake up, O, Romanian!"), banned in 1947 at the beginning of the communist dictatorship and sung during the November 1987 protests in Braşov
.
In Deletant's words, "The Hungarian protest had now become a Romanian revolt." Cries were raised, "Down with Ceauşescu!" "Down with the regime!" and "Down with Communism!" The crowd moved out from around Tőkés' flat and church, crossed a bridge, and headed for the city centre and Communist Party headquarters, where they threw stones before militia drove them back toward the church around 10 p.m. and the water cannons finally came into play. However, the crowd seized the cannons, broke them up, and threw the parts into the river Bega
. A general spirit of roving riot ensued.
Demonstrations continued the next two days. On Sunday, December 17, the army fired into the crowd. The number of casualties has been a matter of dispute; early reports were undoubtedly exaggerated. The number of deaths was 73 for the period December 16-22, 1989, and another 20 for the period after Ceauşescu fled. On Elena Ceauşescu
's orders, 40 of the dead were transported by truck (lorry) to Bucharest and cremated to make identification impossible.
On December 18, tens of thousands of industrial workers in Timişoara peacefully took up the protest; by December 20 the city was effectively in insurrection.
The news of the protests and the violent government crackdown spread quickly across Romania and triggered many more protests. They quickly escalated into the Romanian Revolution of 1989
that overthrew Ceauşescu and the Communist government.
. He was re-elected most recently in 2004 for another six-year term. During his tenure, he worked hard for the reorganization of the disintegrated church and the renewal of spiritual life. He emphasized the importance of Hungarian-language education, social responsibility, and missionary work. It was his top priority to win back the confiscated properties and schools of the church, but ownership-restoration in Romania proved to be an extremely difficult, slow and—so far—unsuccessful process.
In spite of the financial difficulties, he established new social and educational institutions instead of the old ones. The Christian University of Partium in Oradea was one of the bishop's favorite projects as the first Hungarian-language private university in Romania (opened in 1999). His other notable initiatives are the child-care center in Oradea, an orphanage in Aleşd
, Bethesda Health-Care Center in Arduzel, Peter Reformed Elementary School in Salonta
, and a nursing home in Tinca
. The Lórántffy Zsuzsanna Ecclesiastical Centre of the Hungarian Reformed Church with a museum, auditorium, and social care centre was inaugurated in 1996.
as an independent, receiving the backing of Hungary's Fidesz
. At the November election
, he gained enough votes to win a seat. In competition with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
, the main party of Romania's Hungarians, Tőkés was accused, for instance by a leading politician of that party, György Frunda
, of splitting the Hungarian vote. Frunda also claimed that Tőkés was helped by President Băsescu and noted that he received 18,000 votes from Wallachia
and Moldavia
, places where few Hungarians live.
An unbowed Tőkés commented on election night, "I knocked out the Greater Romania Party", referring to the fact that while he had won a seat, the anti-Hungarian Greater Romania Party
had lost all five of its own.
In June 2009, in Washington, D.C.
, he was awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom for his role in the struggles against Romanian communism.
In May 2010 he became one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament
. He was elected by 334 votes in favor and 287 abstentions, replacing Pál Schmitt
.
He is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(since 2004) and Vice President of the European Parliament
Vice President of the European Parliament
There are fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament.-Role:...
(since 2010).
A bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Királyhágómellék Reformed Ecclesiastical District of the Reformed Church in Romania
Reformed Church in Romania
The Reformed Church in Romania is the organization of the Calvinist church in Romania. The majority of its followers are of Hungarian ethnicity and Hungarian is the main church language...
, he is also a former honorary president of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, is the main political organisation representing the ethnic Hungarians of Romania....
, and a founding member and president of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania.
An effort to transfer him from his post as an assistant pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
in Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
and to evict him from his church flat helped trigger the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, which overthrew Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
and spelled the end of the communist era
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
in Romania.
He is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group
Reconciliation of European Histories Group
The Reconciliation of European Histories Group is an informal all-party group in the European Parliament involved in promoting the Prague Process in all of Europe, aimed at coming to terms with the totalitarian past in many countries of Europe...
, and co-sponsored the European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism
European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism
The European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism was a resolution of the European Parliament adopted on 2 April 2009 by a vote of 533-44 with 33 abstentions, in which the European Parliament condemned totalitarian crimes and called for the recognition of...
.
Family
A native of ClujCluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, László Tőkés is the son of István Tőkés, professor of theology and former deputy bishop of the Reformed Church. He is married to Edit Joó, with whom he had three children: Sons Máté and Márton, and daughter Ilona. Máté Tőkés, who was only three years old during the Revolution of 1989, later collected the memories of the friends, relatives, and other participants of the events, and in 2005 wrote Egymás tükrében ("In Each Other's Mirror"), a book about his parents and the hardships of the family.
In March 2010 his wife filed for divorce. Edit Tőkés claimed her husband "terrorized and psychically traumatized" her. She accused the bishop of "numerous affairs" and "absurd habits". The divorce sentence was given in February 2011 The charges of infidelity and mistreatment were confirmed by a former counselor of the priest and the divorce sentence was given in February 2011.
Priestly dissident
Like his father, Tőkés was a persistent critic of the Ceauşescu regime. While a pastor in the Transylvanian town of DejDej
Dej is a city in northwestern Romania, 60 km north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the Someşul Mic River meets the river Someşul Mare River...
, he contributed to the clandestine Hungarian-language
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
journal Ellenpontok ("Counterpoints"; 1981-82). An article there on abuses of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in Romania appears to have been the occasion of his first harassment by the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
. He was reassigned to the village of Sânpetru de Câmpie
Sânpetru de Câmpie
Sânpetru de Câmpie is a commune in Mureş County, Transylvania, Romania that is composed of six villages: Bârlibaş, Dâmbu, Satu Nou, Sângeorgiu de Câmpie, Sânpetru de Câmpie and Tuşinu. It has a population of 3,181: 81% Romanians, 11% Roma and 8% Hungarians....
, but refused to go and instead spent two years living in his parents' house in Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
.
His situation was discussed in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which led indirectly to his appointment to be assistant pastor in Timişoara, where he gave sermons that opposed the Romanian national government's program of systematization, which proposed radical restructuring of the infrastructure of Romanian towns and villages. This was seen by Hungarians as a particular threat to their villages, although Tőkés' sermons did not single this out, calling for solidarity between Hungarians and Romanians.
In the summer of 1988, he organized opposition to systematization among Hungarian Reformed Church pastors, again drawing the strong attention of the Securitate. After the Securitate objected to a cultural festival organized on October 31, 1988 (the Day of Reformation), jointly with the amateur Hungarian-language theatre group "Thalia", Bishop László Papp banned all youth activities in the Banat
Banat of Temeswar
The Banat of Temeswar was a Habsburg province that existed between 1718 and 1778. It was located in the present day region of Banat, which was named after this province...
(the region of which Timişoara is part). Tőkés nonetheless collaborated with the bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
on another festival in spring 1989.
On March 31, 1989, Papp ordered Tőkés to stop preaching in Timişoara and move to the isolated parish of Mineu. Tőkés refused the order, and his congregation supported him. The bishop began civil proceedings to evict
Eviction
How you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
him from his church flat. His power was cut off and his ration book taken away, but his parishioners continued to support and provision him, some of them being arrested and beaten for their trouble. At least one, Ernő Ujvárossy, was found murdered in the woods outside Timişoara on September 14, and Tőkés's father was briefly arrested.
A court ordered Tőkés' eviction on October 20. He appealed. On November 2, four attackers armed with knives broke into his flat; Securitate agents looked on while he and his friends fought off the assailants. The Romanian ambassador was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and told of the Hungarian government's concern for his safety. His appeal was turned down, and his eviction set for Friday December 15.
December 1989
As December 15 approached, Tőkés’ parishioners began something of a vigil outside his flat, refusing two guards’ orders to move along. On December 15, a human chain was formed around the block; the militia were unable to gain access. Tőkés thanked the crowd but advised them to leave, but several hundred stayed in groups close to the flat. His wife, Edit, who was pregnant at the time, fell ill. On December 16, the family doctor appeared to see Edit. Within half an hour, the mayor of Timişoara appeared with three more doctors, hoping to persuade Edit to head to a hospital. On the advice of their family doctor, she refused.Shortly afterwards, workmen arrived to repair the damaged windows and door to the flat; presumably the mayor was hoping to defuse matters, but the crowds actually grew, with young Romanians joining the Hungarian parishioners. Tőkés spoke with the mayor and again urged the crowd to disperse. The crowd remained; the mayor stormed away, returned at noon, and promised that Tőkés would not be evicted. The crowd remained; some of them accused Tőkés of collaborating with the authorities and demanded a written retraction of Tőkés’ transfer and eviction. The mayor promised to produce this within an hour; if he intended actually to do so, it proved impossible on a Saturday.
After various negotiations with the mayor and the deputy mayor and the involvement of various delegations, the mayor gave an ultimatum for the crowd to disperse by 5 p.m. or face fire-brigade water cannons. Tőkés again pleaded with the crowd to disperse, but, possibly convinced that he was acting under threats from the Securitate, they refused. The crowd beckoned him to leave his apartment and come down to the street. He refused, presumably fearful of being seen as the leader of this resistance.
Five p.m. came and went without water cannons. By 7 p.m. the crowds extended for several blocks and included many students from the local polytechnic and university, Romanians and Hungarians in a human chain, first singing hymns, but about 7:30 launching into the patriotic song Deşteaptă-te, române!
Desteapta-te, române!
"Deșteaptă-te, române" is Romania's national anthem....
("Wake up, O, Romanian!"), banned in 1947 at the beginning of the communist dictatorship and sung during the November 1987 protests in Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
.
In Deletant's words, "The Hungarian protest had now become a Romanian revolt." Cries were raised, "Down with Ceauşescu!" "Down with the regime!" and "Down with Communism!" The crowd moved out from around Tőkés' flat and church, crossed a bridge, and headed for the city centre and Communist Party headquarters, where they threw stones before militia drove them back toward the church around 10 p.m. and the water cannons finally came into play. However, the crowd seized the cannons, broke them up, and threw the parts into the river Bega
Bega
As a place name, Bega may refer to:* Bega, New South Wales, a town in New South Wales, Australia** Bega Valley Shire, a coastal local government area in New South Wales** Electoral district of Bega, a New South Wales electoral district...
. A general spirit of roving riot ensued.
Demonstrations continued the next two days. On Sunday, December 17, the army fired into the crowd. The number of casualties has been a matter of dispute; early reports were undoubtedly exaggerated. The number of deaths was 73 for the period December 16-22, 1989, and another 20 for the period after Ceauşescu fled. On Elena Ceauşescu
Elena Ceausescu
Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of Romania's Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.-Background:She was born Elena Petrescu into a peasant family in Petrești commune, Dâmboviţa County, in the informal region of Wallachia. Her family was supported by her father's job...
's orders, 40 of the dead were transported by truck (lorry) to Bucharest and cremated to make identification impossible.
On December 18, tens of thousands of industrial workers in Timişoara peacefully took up the protest; by December 20 the city was effectively in insurrection.
The news of the protests and the violent government crackdown spread quickly across Romania and triggered many more protests. They quickly escalated into the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
that overthrew Ceauşescu and the Communist government.
Bishop of Oradea
After the dispossession of the discredited Communist bishop of Oradea, László Papp in 1989, Tőkés was elected as a bishop of the Reformed Church District of OradeaOradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
. He was re-elected most recently in 2004 for another six-year term. During his tenure, he worked hard for the reorganization of the disintegrated church and the renewal of spiritual life. He emphasized the importance of Hungarian-language education, social responsibility, and missionary work. It was his top priority to win back the confiscated properties and schools of the church, but ownership-restoration in Romania proved to be an extremely difficult, slow and—so far—unsuccessful process.
In spite of the financial difficulties, he established new social and educational institutions instead of the old ones. The Christian University of Partium in Oradea was one of the bishop's favorite projects as the first Hungarian-language private university in Romania (opened in 1999). His other notable initiatives are the child-care center in Oradea, an orphanage in Aleşd
Alesd
Aleşd is a town in Bihor County, western Romania. It is located in the east of the county, near the border with Cluj County.-Geography:Aleşd is located on the main railway line between Oradea and Bucharest...
, Bethesda Health-Care Center in Arduzel, Peter Reformed Elementary School in Salonta
Salonta
Salonta is a city in Bihor County, Transylvania, Romania, near the Hungarian border.-Population:According to the last Romanian census from 2002, the city has a population of 18,074, made up of Hungarians , Romanians , Roma , and others .In terms of religion, 51.12% are Reformed , 36.46% Romanian...
, and a nursing home in Tinca
Tinca
Tinca is a commune in the south-central part of Bihor County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Belfir, Gurbediu, Girişu Negru, Râpa and Tinca.-Tourism:It is known locally for its magnesium and calcium-rich mineral water springs....
. The Lórántffy Zsuzsanna Ecclesiastical Centre of the Hungarian Reformed Church with a museum, auditorium, and social care centre was inaugurated in 1996.
Political career
In 2007 Tőkés decided to run for the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
as an independent, receiving the backing of Hungary's Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union
The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union is a major conservative party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36...
. At the November election
European Parliament election, 2007 (Romania)
Romania elected its members of the European Parliament for the first time on 25 November 2007; the election was initially scheduled for 13 May, but the PM postponed it for domestic political reasons...
, he gained enough votes to win a seat. In competition with the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, is the main political organisation representing the ethnic Hungarians of Romania....
, the main party of Romania's Hungarians, Tőkés was accused, for instance by a leading politician of that party, György Frunda
György Frunda
György Frunda is a Romanian jurist, politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania , he has been a member of the Romanian Senate for Mureş County since 1992, and was twice the UDMR's candidate for the office of Romanian President...
, of splitting the Hungarian vote. Frunda also claimed that Tőkés was helped by President Băsescu and noted that he received 18,000 votes from Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
and Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, places where few Hungarians live.
An unbowed Tőkés commented on election night, "I knocked out the Greater Romania Party", referring to the fact that while he had won a seat, the anti-Hungarian Greater Romania Party
Greater Romania Party
The Greater Romania Party is a Romanian radical right-wing, ultra-nationalist political party, led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party....
had lost all five of its own.
In June 2009, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, he was awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom for his role in the struggles against Romanian communism.
In May 2010 he became one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. He was elected by 334 votes in favor and 287 abstentions, replacing Pál Schmitt
Pál Schmitt
Pál Schmitt is the current President of Hungary. He was elected President of Hungary in a 263 to 59 vote in the Parliament of Hungary and was sworn in on 2010....
.
He is a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism
The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism , which was signed on 3 June 2008, was a declaration signed by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, including past signatories of Charter 77 such as Václav Havel, which called for condemnation of and...
.