László Tőkés
László Tőkés | |
|---|---|
Tőkés in 2007 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 11 May 2007 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Constituency | Hungary (from 2014) Romania (until 2014) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 April 1952 Cluj, People's Republic of Romania |
| Political party | Romanian: Hungarian People's Party of Transylvania, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania Hungarian: Fidesz EU: European People's Party, European Free Alliance |
| Spouse | Edit Joó (divorced) |
| Children |
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László Tőkés (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈlaːsloː ˈtøːkeːʃ]; born 1 April 1952) is an ethnically Hungarian pastor and politician from Romania. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2007 to 2019. Tőkés served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament from 2010 to 2012.
A bishop of the Reformed Diocese of Királyhágómellék of the Reformed Church in Romania, he is also a former honorary president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania. An effort to transfer Tőkés from his post as an assistant pastor in Timișoara and to evict him from his church flat helped trigger the Romanian Revolution, which overthrew Nicolae Ceaușescu and spelled the end of communism in Romania.
Tőkés is the head of the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania, a civic organisation for Transylvanian Hungarians. He is closely associated with the Hungarian People's Party of Transylvania (PPMT), but not a member of it. He is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, and co-sponsored the European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism.