László Kovács (politician)

László Kovács

László Kovács [ Laslo kovaːʧ ] (* 3. July 1939 in Budapest ) is a Hungarian politician, he was several times Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and later European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union .

Private

Kovács is married and has a daughter.

education

From 1953 to 1957 László Kovács attended the Lajos Petrik High School for Chemistry in Budapest. Kovács then studied economics in Budapest from 1963 to 1968.

In addition to Hungarian , he is also fluent in English and Russian .

Career in Hungary

After 1968 he worked in the apparatus of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. From 1989 to 1990 he was State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry. Between April and October 1989 he was a member of the party's Central Committee. In 1990 he became a member of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, of which he was Chairman from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1998 he was foreign minister for the first time. In 1998 he became chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party . After the defeat in the European elections, he no longer ran for the post of party chairman (his successor was István Hiller ). From 2002 to 2004 he was foreign minister again until he moved to the EU Commission, his successor being Ferenc Somogyi .

In 1990 Kovács became a member of the Hungarian Parliament and a member of the Presidium of the Socialist Party of Hungary.

Career in the European Union

In 2004 he was appointed Commissioner for Energy in the EU Commission of José Manuel Durão Barroso . At his hearing in front of the parliament he showed some shortcomings, which is why he was later given responsibility for taxes and customs union . The Latvian Andris Piebalgs became energy commissioner .

He was inducted into office on November 18. He then resigned as a member of parliament. His term of office ended on December 31, 2006

personal data
SURNAME	Kovács, László
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hungarian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	July 3, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	Budapest