Jan Zahradil (born 20 March 1963) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 2004 to 2024, representing the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), and previously as a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

from 1998 to 2004. He left ODS in 2025. A scientific researcher by profession, Zahradil entered politics during the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

. He was a member of the Federal Assembly of the

Czech and Slovak Federative Republic After the Velvet Revolution in Revolutions of 1989, late-1989, Czechoslovakia adopted the official short-lived country name Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (, ; ''ČSFR'') during the period from 23 April 1990 until 31 December 1992, after w ...

, before becoming an adviser to

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...

. In 1998, Zahradil was elected to the national

. Three years later, he became vice-chairman of ODS. From his election to the Chamber of Deputies until 2006, Zahradil was the ODS shadow minister for foreign affairs.

Political career

Early political career

From 1990 until 1992, Zahradil was a Member of the Federal Assembly of the

. From 1995 until 1997, he was a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister

. In 1998, Zahradil was elected to the

, and held that position until 2004. Zahradil was elected vice-chairman of ODS in 2001 and served as first vice-chairman between 2002 and 2004. In 2002, after the departure of

as leader of ODS, he ran for the leadership, but finished third in the election behind

Mirek Topolánek Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democr ...

and

Petr Nečas Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 20 ...

. He was also vice-chairman of ODS from 2014 to 2016.

European Parliament

In October 2018, Zahradil announced his intention to become the

European Conservatives and Reformists Group The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group or simply ECR) is a Euroscepticism#Soft Euroscepticism, soft Eurosceptic, anti-European Federation, federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary ...

's candidate for the European Commission presidency. He was endorsed by the ECR Group on 13 November, making him the first ''

Spitzenkandidat The process (, ) is the method of linking the choice of President of the European Commission, President of the Commission to the outcome of the European Parliament elections, with each major European political party (not to be confused with the ...

'' from Eastern Europe. Zahradil has been president of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) since it was founded in 2010. In 2023, Zahradil resigned as chair of the ODS European parliament group. At the same time, he announced that he would not be a candidate in the European Parliament elections in 2024. He was replaced by MEP Veronika Vrecionová as chair of the ODS parliamentary group, and by Alexandr Vondra as the leader of the ODS candidate list for the European Parliament elections. One of the reasons for Jan Zahradil's departure from European politics was reported to be the alliance of ODS with the Czech centre-right parties

TOP 09 TOP 09 (, ) is a liberal-conservative list of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Adamová, Markéta Pekarová Adamová. 14 of its members sit in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Rep ...

and

KDU-ČSL KDU-ČSL (In Czech language, Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; ), often shortened to ("the populars"), is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Czec ...

in the Spolu coalition. Zahradil's Eurosceptic views were a potential obstacle to this alliance. He resigned his membership of ODS in 2025.

Azerbaijan Statements

Zahradil made controversial statements whitewashing

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

's criticisms on the state of human rights in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, mentioned in three European Parliament resolutions in the period of 2015–2018. He called the resolutions "short-sighted, one-sided, one-issue resolutions" and argued that Azerbaijan is a "victim of political games" asserting that the EU should not sacrifice its partnership with Azerbaijan because of its geopolitical and energy significance for Europe. In April 2018 a Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe investigation revealed that Azerbaijan blindfolded several members of PACE, bringing into play the infamous caviar diplomacy to tone down and soothe criticism towards Azerbaijan. These members were subjected to sanctions. Commenting on these events, Zahradil said: "The Council of Europe has made unilateral and biased decisions on Azerbaijan and it should be abolished".

Political views

Zahradil has been described as

Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. In some cases, Anglophilia refers to an individual's appreciation of English history and traditional English cultural ico ...

Atlanticist Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism or North Atlanticism, is the ideology which advocates a close alliance between nations in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and in Europe on political, economic, and defense issues. The te ...

, national liberal and

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

who holds liberal viewpoints on immigration and same-sex marriage. He is a critic of the Czech monarchists and the Habsburg dynastic family, which ruled the Czech state from 1526 to 1918, because of which in the past he got into a dispute with the Czech Christian Democrats and the Czech

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In the post-Babiš premiership era of ODS, his views (e.g. on the European Union, on cooperation with former Czech Prime Minister

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as the Finance Minister of the Cze ...

or on the overall concept of politics) can be described as minority, which may be one of the reasons for his planned departure from the European Parliament.

References

External links

Jan Zahradil website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahradil, Jan 1963 births Living people Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) MEPs MEPs for the Czech Republic 2004–2009 MEPs for the Czech Republic 2009–2014 MEPs for the Czech Republic 2014–2019 Young Conservatives (Czech Republic) politicians Politicians from Prague MEPs for the Czech Republic 2019–2024 University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague alumni