József Szájer (born 7 September 1961) is a retired Hungarian
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
and former
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) of the
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
party. He resigned as MEP on 29 November 2020 (effective at the end of December) after having been caught by
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
after a gay sex orgy on the night of 27 November, in violation of local
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
Sopron
Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő.
History
Ancient times-13th century
When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...
on 7 September 1961 as the eldest son of schoolmaster József Szájer, Sr. and primary school teacher Edit Kiss. His parents died of
carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...
on 26 November 1982. As a result, Szájer became the guardian of his younger brothers at the age of 21. He finished his elementary and secondary studies at his birthplace.
Szájer studied at Bibó István College and graduated as legal expert from Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest in 1986. He then worked for a decade as lecturer at ELTE's department of Roman Law. Receiving a scholarship from the
Soros Foundation
Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...
, he also attended Balliol College, Oxford, from 1986 to 1987 and moving for research at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
from 1988 to 1989. He passed the
bar exam
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...
in 1996, after which he practiced as a lawyer. Szájer served as the first president of the Oxford Hungarian Society (OHS) from 1987.
Political career
Within Hungary
In 1988, Szájer joined
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
as founding member of the party, and took part in the
Hungarian Round Table Talks The Hungarian Round Table Talks ( hu, Kerekasztal-tárgyalások) were a series of formalized, orderly and highly legalisticBartlett, p.143 discussions held in Budapest, Hungary in the summer and autumn of 1989, inspired by the Polish model, that en ...
from 1989 to 1990. In 1990, he was elected member of the
Hungarian Parliament
The National Assembly ( hu, Országgyűlés, lit=Country Assembly) is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using a semi-propo ...
– a seat he would maintain until he became an MEP in 2004.
From 1994 to 2002 he headed the Fidesz parliamentary group, and from 1998 to 2002 he chaired the Parliament's European integration committee. He served as vice-president of Fidesz from 1996 until 2003, and from 2000 to 2012 he was member of the Board of Council of Europe.
In 2007, he became a founding member of Szabadság kör.
While serving as MEP, in 2010 Szájer was appointed to chair the drafting committee of the new
Constitution of Hungary
The Fundamental Law of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország alaptörvénye), the country's constitution, was adopted by parliament on 18 April 2011, promulgated by the president a week later and entered into force on 1 January 2012. It is Hungary's first c ...
and led the national consultative committee. The draft was written by Szájer on his
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
. The committee put forward several notable changes to the constitution, including a proposal to allow parents to vote in elections on behalf of their underage children and an article banning
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
. The new constitution also emphasised the definition of marriage as being between man and woman, in an apparent repudiation of calls for the recognition of same-sex marriage.
European Parliament
In 2003, Szájer joined the
Convention on the Future of Europe
The Convention on the Future of the European Union, also known as the European Convention, was a body established by the European Council in December 2001 as a result of the Laeken Declaration. Inspired by the Philadelphia Convention that led to ...
and was an observer member of the European Parliament, ahead of Hungary's EU accession. In 2004, Szájer was first elected to 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 ...
Committee on Constitutional Affairs The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as the Treaties of the European Union and the Parliament's rules of procedure. It is currently chaired by Antonio Tajan ...
(2007–2014).
In 2008, he became a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism. In 2009, re-elected, he was appointed head of the Hungarian EPP delegation (until 2011) and chief whip and vice-chairman of the
European People's Party group
The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEP ...
(until 2020). From 2014 until his resignation in 2020, he was an active member of the
Committee on Legal Affairs
The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...
. Szájer was a substitute for the
Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Gay sex party and resignation
Szájer resigned as MEP on 29 November 2020 (effective at the end of December), after having been caught by Belgian police on the night of 27 November fleeing a private 25-man
orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex.
Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...
above a
gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term '' gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities.
Gay bars once serv ...
, hosted by David Manzheley, in violation of local coronavirus regulations. Szájer was not an invited guest to the party and was accompanied by a friend. The party was interrupted after neighbors called the police to complain about the noise. All attendees of the party were issued a €250 fine.
According to a statement from the federal prosecutor's office, he was seen fleeing via a window and a rain gutter's
downspout
A downspout, waterspout, downpipe, drain spout, drainpipe, roof drain pipe,Francis Joseph Patry 1974. Roof Drain ArrangementUnited States Patent 3909412< or leader is a
ecstasy pill was found in his backpack, though he denied the drug was his. He was unable to produce any identity documents on the spot, so police escorted him to his home, where he identified himself using a
diplomatic passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
. Prior to the scandal, there were already rumors of him being gay, which former Fidesz politician Klára Ungár publicly asserted in 2015.
Szájer left Fidesz on 2 December 2020. Prime Minister and party leader
Viktor Orbán
Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between ...
told ''
Magyar Nemzet
''Magyar Nemzet'' ('' en, Hungarian Nation'') is a major Hungarian newspaper published in Hungary, and in 2021 styled itself as "close to the current Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán."
History and profile
''Magyar Nemzet'', a moderate ...
'': "what our fellow member József Szájer has done does not fit into the values of our political community. We will not forget and refuse his thirty years of work, but his actions are unacceptable and indefensible". Fellow MEPs, including
Márton Gyöngyösi
Márton Gyöngyösi is a Hungarian politician, who has been the leader of the political party Jobbik since 2022. He was a Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2019. He was the leader of the Jobbik's parliamentary group from 2018 to 2019. He was el ...
(
Jobbik
The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.
Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...
),
Manon Aubry
Manon Aubry (; born 22 December 1989) is a French politician representing la France Insoumise. A former Oxfam France spokeswoman, she won a seat in the 2019 European Parliament election and is co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament ...
(
La France Insoumise
La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; ; "France Unbowed") is a left-wing populist political party in France, launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims ...
Momentum Movement
)
, ideology =
, website =
, country = Hungary
, native_name = Momentum Mozgalom
, split =
, position = Centre
, international = Liberal International (Observer)
, european = A ...
), the incident reveals the "complete moral bankruptcy of Fidesz".
In the following days, a memorial plaque was appended to the rain gutter that Szájer had descended to escape the sex party. Street artist Laika also created a mural in Rome representing Szájer as a gay icon.
Sopron
Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő.
History
Ancient times-13th century
When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...
. Following his scandal, he resigned from the honorary citizenship on 3 December 2020.
In 2019, he received the Petőfi Prize.
Personal life
Szájer has been married since 1983 to Tünde Handó, who became a justice on the
Constitutional Court of Hungary
The Constitutional Court of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország Alkotmánybírósága) is a special court of Hungary, making judicial review of the acts of the Parliament of Hungary. The official seat of the Constitutional Court is Budapest. Until 2012 ...
in January 2020. The couple have a daughter born in 1987.
In 2015,
Alliance of Free Democrats
The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrat ...
member Klára Ungár, who is openly lesbian, stated that Szájer and another Fidesz politician Máté Kocsis were gay. Kocsis brought a defamation lawsuit against Ungár. He won in the lower court, but lost on appeal. Szájer did not react to the statement.
Books
*''Jogállam, szabadság, rendszerváltoztatás'' (1998)
*''Európa'' (2004)
*''Szabad Magyarország, szabad Európa'' (2014)
*''Ne bántsd a magyart! Gondolatok a bevándorlásról, a Fideszről, Magyarországról, Alaptörvényünkről és Európáról'' (2019)
LGBT rights in Hungary
LGBT people in Hungary face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Homosexuality is legal in Hungary for both men and women. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex is banned in the country. However, ...