Hungary’s ruling Fidesz-KDNP (Christian Democrats) parties will delegate Ernő Schaller-Baross, deputy state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, to fill the vacant position of former Fidesz MEP József Szájer who returned his mandate at the very end of last year due to a scandal.
József Szájer, the alliance’s former delegate, attended what Belgian media described as a homosexual orgy in Brussels, violating lockdown rules. When police arrived, he reportedly tried to escape down a drainpipe. The police found drugs in his backpack, but Szájer denied that he had anything to do with the narcotics. He returned his mandate to the EP effective December 31st last year.
The politician to fill the vacant position of the ruling parties in the EP is Ernő Schaller-Baross. He was born in 1987, has a law degree, and fluently speaks English and German. His civil servant career started in 2008 as an intern, working for a member of the National Assembly of Hungary.
Between 2010 and 2013, he worked as a desk officer at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of Hungary. From 2015 to 2018, he was a member of the Board of Trustees, and from 2017-2018, Head of the Board of Trustees of the Pallas Athéné Domus Animae Foundation (one of the foundations of the National Bank of Hungary).
From 2013 to 2018, he was the Director of International Affairs of the Foundation for a Civic Hungary, founded by Fidesz in 2003. Between 2017 and 2018, he supported the Parliamentary Group of Fidesz as a foreign policy advisor.
Schaller-Baross was appointed deputy state secretary in charge of international relations in 2018.
Featured photo by Sándor Ujvári/MTI
