László Tőkés MEP |
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Tőkés in 2007
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Member of the European Parliament | |
Assumed office 2007 |
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Vice President of the European Parliament | |
In office 2010–2012 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Cluj, Romania |
1 April 1952
Political party | independent |
Spouse(s) | Edit Joó |
Children | Máté Márton Ilona |
Occupation | Politician Bishop |
László Tőkés (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlaːsloː ˈtøːkeːʃ]; born 1 April 1952) is a Romanian-born politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament (since 2007) and Vice President of the European Parliament (2010–12). He was placed third on the Hungarian Fidesz list during the European Parliament elections in 2014.
A bishop of the Királyhágómellék Reformed Church District of the Reformed Church in Romania, he is also a former honorary president of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. He is the head of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania, a civic organisation for Transylvanian Hungarians. Tőkés is closely associated with the Hungarian People's Party of Transylvania.
An effort to transfer him from his post as an assistant pastor in Timișoara and to evict him from his church flat helped trigger the Romanian Revolution, 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.