Mirek Topolánek
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
In office 16 August 2006 – 8 May 2009
President	Václav Klaus
Deputy	Martin Bursík Vlasta Parkanová Petr Nečas Alexandr Vondra
Preceded by	Jiří Paroubek
Succeeded by	Jan Fischer
Deputy Speaker of Senate
In office 2002–2004
Senator from Ostrava (70th district)
In office 1996–2004
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Liana Janáčková
Chairman of the Civic Democratic Party
In office 2002–2010
Preceded by	Václav Klaus
Succeeded by	Petr Nečas
Personal details
Born	(1956-05-15) 15 May 1956 (age 56) Vsetín, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)
Political party	Civic Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Pavla Topolánková Lucie Talmanová
Religion	Atheist[1]
Signature

Mirek Topolánek (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪrɛk ˈtopolaːnɛk]) (born 15 May 1956) is a former prime minister of the Czech Republic and former President of the European Council. A member of the Civic Democratic Party, he was chairman of the center-right^[2] party between November 2002 and March 2010, succeeding Václav Klaus, who was elected President in 2003.

On 24 March 2009, Topolánek announced his resignation as Prime Minister – and that of his governing coalition, after it lost a no-confidence vote in the Czech House of Deputies. He remained in office until 8 May, at which point Jan Fischer took office as an independent Prime Minister leading an interim caretaker government^[3]

Biography[link]

Mirek Topolánek attended a military high school in Opava, where he became a Socialistic Union of Youth member which he claimed to be semi-obligatory for future officers.^[4] After finishing he studied at Brno University of Technology where he received an Ing. degree in mechanical engineering. In 1996 he won a scholarship for Training Course in Management of small and medium enterprise (MIM) in Cyprus and also attended a post-graduate Course in Corporate Management (Centre for Management Training, Čelákovice CZ).

He entered politics by becoming a member of a post-communist catch-all civic movement Civic Forum in 1989, and has been a member of the Civic Democratic Party since 1994. Topolánek co-founded the engineering company VAE Ltd. in 1991 and was a member of the VAE Inc. board of directors from 1996 to 2003.

Mirek Topolánek has two daughters, two sons and two grandchildren. He was married to Pavla Topolánková from 1979 to February 2010.^[5] In June 2010, he married Lucie Talmanová.^[6] His hobbies include tennis, golf and rally driving. He likes books by Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Kundera. He admires such political personalities as Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and José María Aznar and music by the Czech folk singer Jarek Nohavica as well as Pink Floyd.

Political career[link]

Topolánek was a member of the Senate from 1996 to 2004 and its deputy chairman from 2002 to 2004. Since June 2006 he has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies. After the June parliamentary elections in 2006, which produced a stalemate result (100 seats for left-leaning and 100 for right-leaning parties out of 200 Chamber of Deputies members). Topolánek was appointed Prime Minister by Václav Klaus on 16 August 2006 and introduced a unicolour government (nine members of the Civic Democratic Party and six independents). This government (Topolánek I) failed to gain confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, but he continued to be caretaker Prime Minister until 9 January 2007, when his second cabinet (Topolánek II) was appointed. He put together a centre-right coalition government with the Green Party and Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party. It finally gained confidence on 19 January 2007 (230 days after the elections), thanks to two social democratic deputies who abstained, thus effectively defaulting to a right-wing government rather than the unstable situation ongoing since the June 2006 elections.

Involvement in the Anti-Missile Defence System[link]

Mirek Topolánek is an ardent supporter of the Bush administration's proposed anti-missile defence system, which was vehemently opposed by the Russians, and which the Obama administration has suggested may not need to be built if Russia cooperates in convincing Iran, the country whose nuclear ambitions the defence system is to protect against, to stop the development of its nuclear programme and its support of terrorist organizations across the Middle East.

Five Prime Minister's Priorities[link]

Mirek Topolánek introduced the so-called "Five Prime Minister's Priorities" in October 2007. It is a government statement which includes 10 program areas, which consist of 190 projects of Government’s Program Goals Through Electoral Term accepted by the government. To facilitate orientation and communication with citizens Mirek Topolánek has summarized the 10 program areas to Five Prime Minister‘s Priorities: Healthy Public Finances, Modern and Efficient State, Safe Citizen in a Safe Country, Removing Barriers, Promoting Science and Education.

Fall of Government[link]

On 24 March 2009, after four failed earlier attempts, the opposition ČSSD and communists party succeeded in leading the lower house of the Czech parliament to a no confidence vote in Topolánek's government. The measure passed with 101 votes to 96 as four members of Topolánek's coalition (two of his own party) voting with the opposition.^[7][8] After the vote, Topolánek said that he would resign in accordance with the Constitution. He confidently said: "We believe the president should also follow the custom and appoint me to form a new government."^[9]

Several observers^[who?] were surprised by the outcome of the vote. In addition, the European Commission stated that it had confidence in the Czech Republic, and that the nation's EU presidency would remain unaffected.^[10]

On 15 September 2009, Topolánek resigned his seat in the Chamber of Deputies after ČSSD announced a delay of proposed snap election in October 2009.^[11]

Controversies[link]

Topolánek has been criticised for his rhetoric, which occasionally invokes memories of the World War II and Nazi atrocities.^[12] In August 2003 Topolánek called the programme of the competing Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) to be a "osvětimská lež"^[12] (Auschwitz lie), a common expression in Czech which denotes Holocaust denial.^[13][14] Topolánek's remark therefore implied that ČSSD's program was a set of lies.^{[citation needed]}

Further in June 2005, one year before the Parliament elections, he said: "From my side, don't expect anything else than a Night of the Long Knives. This night simply comes."^[12] This actually meant that after the elections of 2006, which he would win, he would make major personnel changes in the government.

In March 2007 he sent to a journalist an SMS message beginning with: "Es kommt der Tag...", which means "The day will come...".^[15] This was used in the 1930s by the Sudetendeutsche Party representing Germans in the former Czechoslovakia, and meant that the day will come, when the Sudeten Area will become a part of Germany. Also in 2007, Topolánek was criticised when he raised his middle finger in the lower house.^[16] In October 2008, Topolánek lashed out at a photographer who was taking photographs of his 15-month-old son. BBC reported that at one stage Topolánek pushed the photographer against a wall and threateningly asked why he was taking photos of him.^[17]

On 30 May 2009, the Italian police seized photos under suspicion of a violation of privacy. One photo, according to world media^[18][19][20] showed Topolánek naked at Villa Certosa (Silvio Berlusconi's summer house) in May 2008.^[21] In the end, Topolánek admitted the naked man sunbathing near a topless women in Berlusconi's Villa Certosa was himself.^[22]

On 20 March 2010 Blesk and Lidové noviny newspapers reprinted passages from interview Topolánek gave to Czech gay magazine LUI which contained his several controversial statements criticizing brainwashing allegedly perpetrated by Christian churches^[23] and claims that both gay and Jewish people lack integrity of moral character, but Jews more so.^[23][24][25] He also expressed his contempt towards voters of ČSSD and described their view on minorities as 'imprison them all and kick up their arses'.^{[25][dubious – discuss]} He did apologize for his statements, which he claimed were taken out of context, on 21 March 2010.^[25] LUI published full video footage of the interview.^[26] Prime minister Fischer replied to Topolánek's statements describing them as 'stupid, insulting and misleading'. He also expressed his desire to restrain his contact to Topolánek to a minimum.^[25]

In the light of this controversy, Topolánek decided to step down as election leader of Civic Democratic Party in the Czech legislative election, held in May 2010.^[27] The deputy chairman Petr Nečas took up his post.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mirek Topolánek's personal website
• Speech of the Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek given at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. 26. 2. 2008
• Speech of the Prime Minister given at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. 27. 2. 2008
• EuropeanVoice – Topolánek's profile

v t e Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus · Josef Tošovský · Miloš Zeman · Vladimír Špidla · Stanislav Gross · Jiří Paroubek · Mirek Topolánek · Jan Fischer · Petr Nečas

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David Rath
David Rath attacked with eggs at a European parliament election rally in 2009
10th Minister of Health
In office 4 November 2005 – 4 September 2006
Prime Minister	Jiří Paroubek
Preceded by	Milada Emmerová
Succeeded by	Tomáš Julínek
2nd Governor of the Central Bohemian Region
In office 24 November 2008 – 16 May 2012
Preceded by	Petr Bendl
Succeeded by	Zuzana Moravčíková (Acting)
Personal details
Born	(1965-12-25) December 25, 1965 (age 46) Prague, Czechoslovakia
Political party	ČSSD (2006–2012) SD–LSNS (1996–1997) ODS (1991–1994)
Spouse(s)	Eva Rathová
Residence	Hostivice, Czech Republic
Alma mater	Charles University in Prague
Occupation	politician, doctor
Website	www.rathdavid.cz

David Rath (born 25 December 1965 in Prague) is a doctor, a politician and former Minister of Health for the Czech Republic. He was a member of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) until May 16th when he resigned^[1] after being charged with bribery ^[2]. He is currently in custody awaiting his trial.

Medical career[link]

Rath completed his medical degree at Charles University in Prague in 1990. He practiced internal medicine at General Teaching Hospital in Prague (Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice), and then at the Faculty Hospital at Motol (Fakultní nemocnice v Motole). Then in Kralupy nad Vltavou he worked for the Samaritan Association. He returned to Prague and joined the internal medicine faculty at Charles University in 1995. From 1998 to 2005 Rath served as the president of the Czech Doctors' Chamber (Česká Lékařská Komora, or ČLK), an umbrella organisation for all Czech doctors.^[3]

Political career[link]

In 1994 Rath joined the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In 1995 he formed the Medical Action Group (or Physician's Union Club) within the party, which brought in significant monetary support during the 1998 elections. As director of the Physician's Union Club Rath initiated the November 1996 doctor's strike. In 1996 he was vice-chairman of the Free Democrats - Liberal National Socialist Party coalition (SD-LSNS).

In November 2005, the prime minister at the time, Jiří Paroubek, appointed him health minister. He was directed to fix the finances of the troubled Czech health system, and he proceeded to institute a number of radical reforms.^[4]

In May 2006 Rath made international news when he traded blows with former Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Macek at a dentists' conference after reportedly implying that Macek had married his wife for her money.^[5] Macek was later fined for having initiated the violence by slapping Rath on the back of the head prior to delivering a speech at the conference.^[6]

In September 2006, Rath was succeeded by Tomáš Julínek as Minister of Health for the Czech Republic.^[7] Rath was then elected chairman of the Health Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies (lower house).^[8]

In May 2012, he was arrested and charged with receiving bribes.^[9] At that time, he served both as a Member of Parliament of the Czech Republic and Governor of the Central Bohemian Region.^[10]

References[link]

v t e Ministers of Health of the Czech Republic Lom · Rubáš · Stráský · Roithová · David · Fišer · Součková · Kubinyi · Emmerová · Rath · Julínek · Filipiová · Jurásková · Heger

Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 January 2012
Vice President	14 Alexander Alvaro (ALDE) Roberta Angelilli (EPP) Isabelle Durant (G/EFA) Othmar Karas (EPP) Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez (S&D) Edward McMillan-Scott (ALDE) Georgios Papastamkos (EPP) Gianni Pittella (S&D) Anni Podimata (S&D) Jacek Protasiewicz (EPP) László Surján (EPP) Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP) Oldřich Vlasák (ECR) Rainer Wieland (EPP)
Preceded by	Jerzy Buzek
Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
In office 5 July 2004 – 17 January 2012
Preceded by	Enrique Barón Crespo
Succeeded by	Hannes Swoboda
Member of the European Parliament for Germany
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 July 1994
Personal details
Born	(1955-12-20) 20 December 1955 (age 56) Hehlrath, West Germany (now Germany)
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Website	Official website

Martin Schulz (born on 20 December 1955 in Hehlrath) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, since 2004 leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament (formerly called the Party of European Socialists group and since 2009 called the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats). Martin Schulz has a secondary level of education, he attended high school Heilig Geist Gymnasium in Würselen. He is the current President of the European Parliament.

Career[link]

• 1975-1977: Apprentice bookseller
• 1977-1982: Worked in various bookshops and publishing houses
• 1982-1994: Bookshop proprietor
• 1991-1999: Member of the SPD Party Council
• since 1995: Member of the Mittelrhein SPD Executive
• since 1996: Chairman of the Aachen District SPD
• since 1999: Member of the SPD Federal Executive
• 1984-1999: Municipal Councillor, Würselen
• 1987-1998: Mayor of Würselen
• since 1994: Member of the European Parliament
• 1994-1996: PES Group coordinator, Subcommittee on Human Rights
• 1996-2000: PES Group coordinator, Committee on Civil Liberties and Home Affairs
• 2000-2004: Chairman of the German Socialist (SPD) delegation, European Parliament
• 2002-2004: First Vice-Chairman of the PES Group
• since 2009: Chairman of the PES and then S&D Group
• since 2012: President of the European Parliament

Education and professional career[link]

After four years at primary school, from 1962 to 1966, Schulz attended the Heilig-Geist (Holy Spirit) grammar school in Broich (now Würselen), a district of the town of Broichweiden, for nine years, leaving without his Abitur (A-levels). From 1975 to 1976 he then trained to be a bookseller ^[1].

Over the next five years he worked for a number of publishing houses and bookshops, and in 1982 he opened his own bookshop in Würselen, which he ran until 1994.

Besides German, he speaks French and English^[2] and understands Dutch.

Political career[link]

In 1974, at the age of 19, Schulz joined the SPD, became involved with the Young Socialists and in 1984 was elected to the Würselen Municipal Council, remaining a member for just over two electoral terms, to 1998, from 1987 onwards as mayor. At 31, he was then the youngest mayor in North Rhine-Westphalia. He held that office until 1998.

During his period of office as mayor of Würselen Martin Schulz was responsible in particular for the building of the Aquana aquatic leisure centre. In view of the town’s budget problems, this decision has long been seen as controversial.

In the 1994 European elections Schulz was elected to the European Parliament and between 2000 and 2004 was chair of the SPD delegation. Following the 2004 European elections he took over the leadership of the PSE Group, succeeding the Spaniard Enrique Barón Crespo. Since 13 November 2009 he has been the SPD’s European Coordinator, responsible for improving cooperation within the party between the EU and national levels. He is also a member of the cross-party organisation Europa-Union Deutschland^[3]. On 17 January 2012 Schulz was elected President of the European Parliament.

Berlusconi incident[link]

On July 2, 2003, one day after taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy was heavily criticised by MEP Martin Schulz because of Berlusconi's domestic policy. Berlusconi replied:

"Signor Schulz, so che in Italia c'è un produttore che sta montando un film sui campi di concentramento nazisti: la suggerirò per il ruolo di kapò. Lei è perfetto!“

In English: "Mister Schulz, I know of a movie-producer in Italy who is making a film about Nazi concentration-camps. I will recommend you for the part of a Kapo (concentration-camp inmate appointed as supervisor). You are perfect!"

Berlusconi later claimed he was referring to the comedy-series Hogan's Heroes, where a slow-witted character named Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz, played by John Banner, starred.

Even though Berlusconi insisted that he was just ironic,^[4] his comparisons with the Nazis caused a brief diplomatic rift between Italy and Germany.

Incident with Godfrey Bloom[link]

On 24 November 2010 the British MEP Godfrey Bloom caused a row in the European Parliament when he interrupted a speech by Martin Schulz, heckling him with the Nazi propaganda slogan ‘Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer’ (‘one people, one empire, one leader’) and accusing him of being an ‘undemocratic fascist’. In the debate on the future of the Euro Stability Pact Schulz had criticised the role played by the United Kingdom, which was involved in the discussions despite not being a member of the eurozone, and said that some eurosceptics would take pleasure in the collapse of the European Union. Following the incident, the President of Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, excluded Bloom from the Chamber^[5]. The Dutch MEP Barry Madlener, from the right-wing populist Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV - Freedom Party), then protested against that decision, on the grounds that Schulz himself had recently described the PVV MEP Daniël van der Stoep as a fascist, but had not been excluded from the Chamber^[6].

President of the European Parliament[link]

Following the 2009 European elections Schulz came to public attention when he insisted that his group should not immediately approve a second term of office for European Commission President Barroso and instead, together with the Chair of the Green Group in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, proposed the Belgian Liberal Guy Verhofstadt as a candidate for that office^[7]. Following reassurances by Barroso, Schulz dropped his categorical opposition to him, insisting only that he should make certain political concessions to the Social Democrats^[8]. As a result, the majority of the group abstained on the confidence vote to Barroso.

An informal agreement was reached between the Conservative PPE Group and the PSE Group that in 2012 Schulz should succeed the Polish PPE Member Jerzy Buzek as President of the European Parliament. In early June 2011 Schulz then formally announced his candidacy for that office^[9].

On 17 January 2012, Martin Schulz was elected President of the European Parliament, with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast^[10]. On 15 September 2011 Members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament had unanimously nominated Schulz as their candidate for President of the European Parliament^[11]. Other candidates were Nirj Deva (142 votes) and Diana Wallis (141 votes).

Honours and decorations[link]

• 2010: Officer of the French Légion d’honneur
• On 18 May 2009 Martin Schulz was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Kaliningrad State Technical University. The university thus honoured his longstanding commitment to improving relations between Europe and Russia and his support for the development of what is still the only interdisciplinary and intercultural university course in European studies in Russia.
• 2006: Federal Cross of Merit (First Class)

Private life[link]

Martin Schulz is married with two children. In addition to reading, his main hobby is supporting the football club FC Köln.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martin Schulz

• Official homepage
• Website of Martin Schulz's political group in European Parliament
• European Parliament biography of Martin Schulz (incl. Speeches, Questions and Motions)
• Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (German)

v t e Presidents of the European Parliament Common Assembly: 1952–1958 Paul-Henri Spaak · Alcide De Gasperi · Giuseppe Pella · Hans Furler Parliamentary Assembly: 1958–1962 Robert Schuman · Hans Furler European Parliament (Appointed): 1962–1979 Gaetano Martino · Jean Duvieusart · Victor Leemans · Alain Poher · Mario Scelba Walter Behrendt · Cornelis Berkhouwer · Georges Spénale · Emilio Colombo European Parliament (Elected): 1979–present Simone Veil · Piet Dankert · Pierre Pflimlin · Henry Plumb · Enrique Barón Crespo · Egon Klepsch · Klaus Hänsch · José María Gil-Robles · Nicole Fontaine · Pat Cox · Josep Borrell · Hans-Gert Pöttering · Jerzy Buzek · Martin Schulz Commission President  · President of the European Council  · Council Presidency  · President of Parliament