Libor Rouček (born 4 September 1954 in

Kladno Kladno (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 70,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and has a rich industrial history. Administrative division Kladno consists of six municipal parts ...

) 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 A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who was

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 ...

from 2004 to 2014 with the

Czech Social Democratic Party Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European ...

. He was a former member of the

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (, PS PČR), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats and deputies are elected for four-year terms u ...

from 2002 to 2004 and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the

Government of the Czech Republic The Government of the Czech Republic () exercises executive power in the Czech Republic. The members of the government are the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (Chairman of the Government), the deputy prime minister and other ministers. It ...

from 1998 to 2002. During his tenure in the

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 ...

, he was

Vice-President of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President of the European Parliament, president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau (European P ...

from 2009 to 2012 and vice-president 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 ...

from 2012 to 2014. He was first vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and member of the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2009. Rouček was furthermore the European Parliament's Rapporteur for the accession process of Croatia from 2012 to 2013, and Rapporteur on Russia from 2013 to 2014.

Biography

Rouček was born in 1954 in

, where he graduated from primary and secondary school. From the age of fifteen, he worked on construction sites and from the age of sixteen at Poldi Steel Works. After graduating high school, he was successively employed as an aircraft loader, mine worker and computer programmer. In 1977, he emigrated to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

for political reasons, where he became involved in the Social Democratic movement. From 1978 to 1984, he studied political science and sociology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He completed his studies with a doctor’s degree with a specialization in international relations. While studying, he worked in various professions, including as a tile setter, bottle sorter at Coca Cola and waiter. From 1980, he was employed in the documentation and press office at the headquarters of the

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

under Chancellor

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and as chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72, he was the oldest chancellor after World War II. Kr ...

. After his studies, he first went to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where, among other things, he taught at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. In 1987, he was a fellow at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

; a year later, he gave a lecture at the invitation of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. From 1988 to 1991, he was employed as an editor at the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

in Washington, D.C. From 1991 to 1992, he was a research fellow at the

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In this role, he also provided his expertise to the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Westminster Parliament. After 1993, he worked in Sydney in research on Australian and East Asian markets. Rouček applied his education, work and life experiences from Austria, the US, Great Britain, and Australia in the preparation of many

(ČSSD) program documents; after his return from exile, he became the spokesperson of the party. After the victorious parliamentary elections in 1998, he worked 4 years as a spokesman for the Government of the Czech Republic. Roucek speaking as MEP

In 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

, he was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (, PS PČR), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats and deputies are elected for four-year terms ...

where he served as vice-chairman of the Committee on European Integration, vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and vice-chairman of the ČSSD Parliamentary Club. From spring 2003, he has served as the head of the ČSSD observer delegation to the

. In June 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament, where he worked in the

Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to: * Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development * Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade * Foreign Affairs Committee of t ...

from 2004 and became its first Vice-Chair in November 2006. He was also a member of the Committee on Budgets from 2004 to 2009. He was successfully reelected as MEP in June 2009 and was subsequently elected as

on 14 July 2009. In 2012, he was elected vice-president of the Group of European Social Democrats in the European Parliament, responsible for foreign policy. His work included coordinating relations with the US,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. From 2012 to 2013, he served as the European Parliament's rapporteur for the accession process of Croatia; in 2013, he was named elected as the European Parliament's official rapporteur for EU-Russia relations and to the lllBoard of lllGovernors of the European Endowment for Democracy. Although he was the highest-ranking Czech Social Democrat in the EU institutions, for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament the ČSSD placed him in an unelectable ninth place on its candidate list, and he thus did not defend his MEP mandate. He then withdrew from active politics altogether. Rouček described his life's journey in his autobiography entitled ''Můj a náš příběh'' (My and Our Story).

Other activities

Since 2015, Rouček has been co-chair of the Czech-German Discussion Forum to promote dialogue between Czechs and Germans.

Recognition

Honours & Award

* Honorary Order of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(2014) * Wenzel-Jaksch – Gedächtnispreis (2021) * Medal of the minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic for Distinguished Contribution to Diplomacy (2022)
Europäischer Karlspreis der Sudetendeutschen Landsmannschaft (2023)

Bibliography

''Die Tschechoslowakei und die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949-1989,'' Tuduv Verlag, München, 1990

''After the Bloc: The New International Relations in Eastern Europe,'' The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1992

''Malá politologie,'' Ústav mezinárodních vztahů, Praha,1993

Můj a náš příběh ''(My and our story)'', Academia, 2019
* Numerous articles in professional journals and newspapers, including The World Today, Soviet Studies, Australian Medical Journal, International Politics, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Profil, Liberation, Lidové noviny, Právo and others.

External links