M. J. R. L. "Marcel" de Graaff (; born 7 April 1962) is a Dutch politician. He 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 ...

(MEP) for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

since February 2020, and previously served between 2014 and 2019. He represented the Party for Freedom (PVV) and was co-president of the Europe of Nations and Freedom. De Graaff was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands for the PVV from 2011 to 2014.

Early life and career

Marcel de Graaff was born on 7 April 1962 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

.Drs. M.J.R.L. (Marcel) de Graaff
(in Dutch), ''Parlement & Politiek''. Retrieved 21 March 2017. De Graaff studied theology at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century ...

between 1981 and 1988. De Graaff worked as a consultant for IT & Operations from 1 August 1989. He was a teacher of religion at a secondary school in Rotterdam from 1 January 2010 until 1 July 2010. He also was a manager for

KPN KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History Un ...

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

company.

Political career

De Graaff was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands representing the Party for Freedom from 7 June 2011 until 1 July 2014. He was

parliamentary group leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...

of the PVV in the Senate from 25 September 2012 until 10 June 2014. De Graaff was the top candidate of the PVV for the 2014 European Parliament elections. He became

for the

per 1 July 2014. He has also become the parliamentary group leader of the PVV in the European Parliament since the beginning of his term as an MEP. In 2015, far-right MEPs founded the Europe of Nations and Freedom group. Marine Le Pen and De Graaff have been its first co-presidents since 15 June 2015. On 28 October 2015, De Graaff voted multiple times for Le Pen in her absence, which is against the European Parliament's rules. Parliament president

Martin Schulz Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018, and was a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. Previously he was President of the European Parliam ...

withheld

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

1,530 in allowances as a punitive measure. De Graaff was the PVV leader for the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...

. The party did not obtain any seats in the election. His term in the European Parliament ended on 1 July 2019. In February 2020 it was announced that because of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

the PVV would obtain a seat in the European Parliament, which was assigned to De Graaff. He was appointed per 1 February 2020. In 2022, he defected to

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representative ...

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections ...

(FvD) party after expressing support for its more hardline stance against the COVID-19 vaccine and criticising the PVV's pro-vaccine policies. On 2 March 2022, he was one of 13 MEPs who voted against condemning the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. On 15 September 2022, he was one of 16 MEPs who voted against condemning President Daniel Ortega of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

for human rights violations, in particular the arrest of Bishop Rolando Álvarez. On 22 October 2022, he left

Identity and Democracy Identity and Democracy (french: link=no, Identité et démocratie, ID) is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament, launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist, ri ...

group and announced his decision to become a Non-Inscrit member of European Parliament due to group's oppisition of his stance on Russia. Beforehand. his membership in Identity and Democracy was suspended.

Personal life

De Graaff is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and lives in

. He is married to fellow politician Gabriëlle Popken.

References

External links

Marcel de Graaff
at the website of the European Parliament *
Marcel de Graaff
at the website of the European Parliament delegation of the Party for Freedom {{DEFAULTSORT:Graaff, Marcel de 1962 births Dutch anti-vaccination activists Dutch educators Dutch management consultants Dutch Roman Catholics Party for Freedom MEPs Forum for Democracy MEPs Living people Members of the Senate (Netherlands) MEPs for the Netherlands 2014–2019 MEPs for the Netherlands 2019–2024 Party for Freedom politicians Politicians from Rotterdam Radboud University Nijmegen alumni