Knut Fleckenstein (born 20 December 1953) is a German politician and former

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

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009, prior to which he had managed the Workers' Samaritan Federation in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Since July 2020, he serves as an official adviser to the speaker of Albania's parliament, Gramoz Ruci.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2019

Between 2009 and 2014, Fleckenstein served on the

Committee on Transport and Tourism A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. From 2014, he was member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). In addition, he served on the delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee since 2009. He was the Parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on market access to port services and financial transparency. In addition to his committee assignments, Fleckenstein was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals Within the parliamentary group of the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

, Fleckenstein served as vice-president responsible for foreign policy, human rights, trade and development.

Other activities

European Endowment for Democracy The European Endowment for Democracy is a European non-governmental organisation with the stated purpose of promoting democracy, particularly in the European Neighbourhood, Turkey and the Western Balkans. It was established in 2013 following a p ...

(EED), Member of the Board of Governors *

Ernst Deutsch Theater Ernst Deutsch Theater is a theatre in Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the Europe ...

, Chairman of the Supervisory Board * Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, Member of the Board of Trustees * Hamburgische Regenbogenstiftung, Member of the Board of Trustees * BERTINI Award, Chairman of the Board of Directors (since 2007) * Samaritan International, President

Political positions

In his capacity as vice-chair of the

, Fleckenstein called in August 2015 for a "new initiative for political dialogue in Europe" after the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

and the removal "from the sanction lists of both Russia and the European Union all members of national Parliaments as well as the European Parliament." His call also targeted the EU sanctions list, which imposed visa bans and asset freezes on 151 people in Russia, including dozens of members of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.Maïa de La Baume (3 August 2015
MEPs call for thaw in EU-Russia relations
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleckenstein, Knut 1953 births Living people People from Bad Nauheim Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 Articles containing video clips