Zoltán Balog (politician)
Zoltán Balog (born January 7, 1958 in Ózd ) is a Hungarian politician and pastor of the Reformed Church . From May 2012 to May 2018 he was Minister for Human Resources under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, responsible for the areas of health, social affairs, youth, education, culture and sport.
Career
Zoltán Balog studied Protestant theology from 1978 , initially in Hungary, between 1980 and 1983 in East Berlin and at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg . From 1983 to 1987 he worked as a parish priest in Maglód , then he went to Tübingen for further theological studies . In 1989 the World Council of Churches in Hungary named him as pastor for the refugees from the GDR in the Budapest-Csillebérc refugee camp .
From 1989 to 1991 Balog was a lecturer in the New Testament at the Károli Gáspár Reformed University in Budapest, then until 1996 he was a religion teacher. From 1991 to 1994 he worked as an advisor to the Fidesz party - Hungarian Citizens' Union on church issues. After a long stay as a visiting scholar at the University of Bonn , he worked from 1996 to 2006 as a pastor of the German Reformed Church in Budapest. From 1998 to 2002 he was also an advisor to Prime Minister Orbán, and from 2002 to 2003 he was responsible for social policy in the office of the Hungarian President.
In the parliamentary elections in Hungary in 2006 Balog received a mandate in the Hungarian Parliament . He defended this mandate in the parliamentary elections in 2010 , 2014 and 2018 as an independent candidate on the list of the Fidesz party. In 2007 he became vice-chairman of the Fidesz group and chairman of the party's cultural department. After the 2010 election, he joined the second Orbán government as State Secretary for Social Inclusion in the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice. In May 2012, when the Minister for National Resources Miklós Réthelyi resigned, Prime Minister Orbán appointed Balog as his successor in the now renamed Minister for Human Resources, which he also held in the Orbán III cabinet until May 2018. In September 2018, he resigned his parliamentary mandate in order to work again as pastor and chairman of the Fidesz-related community foundation Polgári Magyarországért Alapítvány . He will also continue his work in the Prime Minister's Commission on Roma Issues.
Private
In October 2018, he trusted the FDP General Secretary Nicola Beer . Balog is a longtime friend of her husband.
Honors
- 2000: Oradea Pro Ecclesia Prize
- 2013: Large Federal Cross of Merit with a star and shoulder ribbon for his services to the German-Hungarian relationship and his commitment to minorities
- 2018: Honorary Citizen of the City of Maglód
Web links
- Official website (Hungarian, German, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Balog Zoltán életrajza (CV). Hungarian Government, accessed October 6, 2018 (Hungarian).
- ^ Balog Resigns Seat in Parliament. Hungary today, September 13, 2018, accessed October 6, 2018 .
- ↑ The FDP has celebrity support, but an annoying debate about top candidate Nicola Beer. In: www.handelsblatt.com, January 26, 2019.
- ↑ Rüdiger Bäßler: Zoltan Bàlog at the district party conference: A Hungarian minister in the CDU shop window. Stuttgarter Zeitung , October 14, 2015, accessed on October 6, 2018 .
- ^ Keno Verseck: Hungary: German Cross of Merit for a controversial minister. In: Spiegel Online . May 31, 2013, accessed June 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Maglód díszpolgára lett Balog Zoltán. Origo.hu, August 21, 2018, accessed October 6, 2018 (Hungarian).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Balog, Zoltan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian clergyman and politician, Member of Parliament |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ózd |