Hungarian politician
Klára Dobrev (born Klara Petrova Dobreva , Bulgarian : Клара Петрова Добрева ; on 2 February 1972) is a Hungarian left-wing [ 1] politician who served as Vice-President of the European Parliament between July 2019 and January 2022.
Early life and education
Dobrev was born in Sofia , Bulgaria to a Hungarian Jewish mother, Piroska Apró, and a Bulgarian father, Petar Dobrev. Her maternal grandfather, Antal Apró , a communist politician, served as Minister of Industry in the Hungarian People's Republic in the 1950s–60s.[ 2] [ 3]
Dobrev holds a degree in economics from the Budapest University of Economics , and a law degree from Faculty of Law of the Eötvös Loránd University . During her years at the University of Economics she was a member of AIESEC , and at the organization's 1992 world conference she was the animator board's vice president responsible for public relations. Dobrev spent her internship at Modi Xerox (now called Xerox India ) as a marketing assistant in Bangalore , India .[ 4]
Klára Dobrev (center) with U.S. Ambassador to Hungary April H. Foley (left) and Nancy Brinker , former ambassador to Hungary (right). Budapest, 10 July 2008
Career
Dobrev has held several government positions in the past, including Chief Cabinet to Péter Medgyessy during the 2002 parliamentary election , and vice-president of the Office for the National Development Plan and EU Support, where she served from 2002 until her husband's nomination for prime minister in 2004, when she resigned.[ 5]
Dobrev is a senior lecturer at Eötvös Loránd University . She is chairperson of the Hungarian section of the UN Women .[ 6] Dobrev became CEO of Altus Ltd. in 2009, a development consultant company, owned by her husband.[ 7]
In 2019, Dobrev re-entered politics, as the lead candidate of the Democratic Coalition 's European Parliament list for the 2019 election . With a stunning and surprising,[ 8] [ 9] [ 10] 16.05% result for her party, better than all the surveys predicted, she was elected a Member of the European Parliament .[ 11] Dobrev was elected a Vice-President of the European Parliament on 3 July 2019.[ 12]
In October 2021, Dobrev stated that she was the frontrunner in the primary election of the coalition meant to run united against Viktor Orbán in the 2022 parliamentary election .[ 13] Dobrev gained 34% of the votes in the first round in September 2021, running as the candidate of the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Liberal Party .[ 14] In the second round held in October, she received 43% of the votes and was consequently defeated by Péter Márki-Zay of the Everybody's Hungary Movement , who gained 57%.[ 15]
Other activities
Personal life
Dobrev is married to Ferenc Gyurcsány , Prime Minister of Hungary between 2004 and 2009.
Recognition
She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.[ 17]
References
Sources
Links to related articles
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