Péter Balázs

Péter Balázs (born 5 December 1941) is a Hungarian politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, born in Kecskemét, 1941. In addition to his native Hungarian, he speaks English, French, German and Russian.

Péter Balázs
Péter Balázs, 2009
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary
In office
16 April 2009  29 May 2010
Preceded byKinga Göncz
Succeeded byJános Martonyi
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
In office
1 May 2004  21 November 2004
PresidentRomano Prodi
Preceded byMonika Wulf-Mathies
Succeeded byDanuta Hübner
Personal details
Born (1941-12-05) 5 December 1941
Kecskemét, Kingdom of Hungary
Political partyIndependent
Children5 daughters
1 son
Professiondiplomat, economist, politician

He graduated from Budapest School of Economics in 1963 and worked in the Hungarian government until 1 May 2004, when his country joined the European Union and was appointed to the European Commission with Michel Barnier under Romano Prodi.

He became the Hungarian European Commissioner holding the Regional Policy portfolio until the end of the Prodi Commission on 21 November 2004. He was succeeded by László Kovács as the Hungarian Commissioner and Danuta Hübner as Commissioner for regional policy.

Balázs became a professor at the International Relations and European Studies Department of the Central European University (CEU), Budapest. In 2005, he established a new research center for EU Enlargement Studies at the CEU.

Balázs became the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs in April 2009, serving until May 2010. Balázs, when addressing the topic of Hungary-Slovakia relations compared the creation of the language law of Slovakia to the politics of the Ceauşescu regime on the use of language.[1][2][3] He was succeeded by János Martonyi.

Balázs is a member of the advisory board of the Prague European Summit.[4]

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Monika Wulf-Mathies
European Commissioner for Regional Policy
May 2004 – Nov 2004
Succeeded by
Danuta Hübner
Preceded by
new post
Hungarian European Commissioner
May 2004 – Nov 2004
Succeeded by
László Kovács
Preceded by
Kinga Göncz
Minister of Foreign Affairs
2009–2010
Succeeded by
János Martonyi


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