Valter Flego (born 15 August 1972) is a Croatian politician who was 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 ...

for Croatia from 2 July 2019 to 15 July 2024. Previously he had served as the 4th

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Istria County Istria County (; ; , "Istrian Region") is the westernmost Counties of Croatia, county of Croatia which includes the majority of the Istrian peninsula. Administrative centers in the county are Pazin, Pula and Poreč. Istria County has the larg ...

from 2013 to 2019, as well as serving three terms as mayor of the town of

Buzet Buzet (; ; ) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011). The historical core of Buzet dates back to the Middle Ages, and today Buzet is known as the town of truffles. Buzet is also known as the home of Croatian motorsport, and eve ...

. He is a member of the liberal Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) party.

Early life and education

He finished elementary school and first two years of high school in

, and 3rd and 4th grade in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

. After graduating from high school, he earned the qualification for a machine technician. In 1991 he enrolled in the study of mechanical engineering in the University of Rijeka, where he graduated in 1996 with special honors and became a mechanical engineer. During his studies he received the Rector's Award of the University of Rijeka as the best student of the Technical Faculty as well as the Truffle Award for Excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities from the town of Buzet.

Career

After finishing studies, Flego got a job in the company ''Istrian waterworks'', and at the same time enrolled in the postgraduate studies on the Rijeka Faculty of Economics which he finished in year 2000 acquiring a scientific master's degree in economics. After 2001 local elections Flego became the Mayor of

. After 2005 local elections he was unanimously re-elected mayor by the city council. At the first direct local elections that were held in 2009 Flego received over 84% of the voters, thus achieving the best result out of all candidates for mayor in Croatia. In 2013 local elections Flego, who had support from IDS- HNS-LD-Green party, ran against Damir Kajin, who had support of SDP- HSU- SDSS- HSLS, for the position of Prefect of Istrian county. Eventually he won with 47,25% to 36,24% of votes.

Personal life

Flego is married since 2002 to Branka Flego, an elementary school teacher. They have two sons, Dinko and Ivo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flego, Valter MEPs for Croatia 2019–2024 1972 births Living people People from Buzet University of Rijeka alumni Mayors of places in Croatia Istrian Democratic Assembly politicians Prefects of counties in Croatia