Anna Fotyga Explained

Anna Fotyga
Honorific-Suffix:MEP
Office:Chair of the European Parliament Security and Defence Subcommittee
Term Start:7 July 2014
Predecessor:New position
Office1:Member of the European Parliament
Term Start1:13 June 2004
Constituency1:Poland
Office3:Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term Start3:9 May 2006
Term End3:15 November 2007
Predecessor3:Stefan Meller
Successor3:Radosław Sikorski
Office2:Chief of the Chancellery of the President
President2:Lech Kaczyński
Term Start2:29 November 2007
Term End2:20 August 2008
Predecessor2:Robert Draba (acting)
Successor2:Piotr Kownacki
Birth Name:Anna Elżbieta Fotyga
Birth Date:12 January 1957
Birth Place:Lębork, Poland
Nationality:Polish
Party: Poland


Law and Justice

Spouse:Ryszard Fotyga
Children:2
Signature:Anna Fotyga signature.svg

Anna Elżbieta Fotyga (pronounced as /pl/; ; born 12 January 1957) is a Polish politician who currently serves as a Member of the European Parliament, and is the Secretary-General of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. She has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, in the successive cabinets of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński (2006–2007) and Chief of the Chancellery of the President (2007–2008).

Early life and education

Fotyga is a graduate of the University of Gdańsk and the Danish School of Public Administration. She also served postgraduate internships at the Department of Labor of the United States, Cornell University in New York and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Career

In 1981, and again after 1989, Fotyga acted as Head of the Foreign Office of the Solidarity headquarters in Gdańsk, and was a close associate of Lech Kaczyński. In 2000, Fotyga served as a foreign affairs adviser under then Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. Subsequently, she was Deputy Chair of the supervisory board of Social Security Administration (Zakład Ubezpieczen Spolecznych, ZUS) with special expertise in International Labour Organization (Międzynarodowa Organizacja Pracy) and the World Bank. From 2002 to 2004, she was Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk.

Career in national politics

Fotyga garnered 25,994 votes (the second highest in the region) in the 2004 European parliamentary elections as a candidate of the Law and Justice (PiS) party in the Pomeranian Voivodship.

On 9 May 2006 Fotyga was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland by President Lech Kaczyński, replacing Stefan Meller. The opposition criticised her office for pursuing a policy of isolation in relation to Russia and Germany. On 7 September 2007, Fotyga was dismissed from her post but re-appointed again on the same day; in this way the prime minister and president avoided her being dismissed by a vote of censure prepared by the Civic Platform three months earlier.

Following the fall of the Kaczynski administration in 2007, she was succeeded by Radosław Sikorski as foreign minister of Poland.

Until 20 August 2008, Fotyga was the chief of the Office of the President of the Republic of Poland.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

From 2014 until 2019, Fotyga served chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence. She has since been a full member of both the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on Security and Defence.

In 2015, news media reported that Fotyga was included in a Russian blacklist of prominent people from the European Union who are not allowed to enter the country.[1] [2]

In 2020, Fotyga was appointed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to join a group of experts to support his work in a reflection process to further strengthen NATO's political dimension.[3]

Political positions

Fotyga's position on foreign affairs is congruent with the policy stance of PiS, based on the concept of Poland as a strong, independent country, poised to confront Germany or Russia when necessary. She has also pursued a policy of close alignment with the U.S.

On 23 November 2016 Fotyga proposed a resolution to counteract propaganda against the EU, which includes advocating censoring Russian media, such as RT and Sputnik.[4] The proposal came under criticism of European Federation of Journalists,[5] and Russian government.

Fotyga has signed a petition supporting the recognition of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria by the European Parliament.

Personal life

Fotyga is married and has two children.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Laurence Norman (30 May 2015), Russia Produces Blacklist of EU People Banned From Entering Country The Wall Street Journal.
  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32949236 European Union anger at Russian travel blacklist
  3. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_174756.htm Secretary General appoints group as part of NATO reflection process
  4. Web site: Tackling propaganda: "It's a continuation of methods used during the Cold War" News European Parliament. 22 November 2016. European Parliament. en. 31 October 2019.
  5. Web site: EU Parliament Resolution to tackle anti-EU Propaganda comes under criticism from journalists. 24 November 2016. European Federation of Journalists. en-US. 31 October 2019.