Jan Hamáček

Jan Hamáček (born 4 November 1978) is a Czech politician who has been Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) since March 2018 and Minister of the Interior since June 2018. He also served as Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2017,[1] and was acting Minister of Foreign Affairs from June to October 2018. Hamáček has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006.

Jan Hamáček MP
Leader of the Social Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 February 2018
Preceded by	Milan Chovanec
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 June 2018
Prime Minister	Andrej Babiš
Preceded by	Richard Brabec (2017)
Minister of the Interior
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 June 2018
Prime Minister	Andrej Babiš
Preceded by	Lubomír Metnar
Minister of Foreign Affairs Acting
In office 27 June 2018 – 16 October 2018
Prime Minister	Andrej Babiš
Preceded by	Martin Stropnický
Succeeded by	Tomáš Petříček
7th Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 27 November 2013 – 22 November 2017
Preceded by	Miroslava Němcová
Succeeded by	Radek Vondráček
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 June 2006
Personal details
Born	(1978-11-04) 4 November 1978 Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
Political party	Czech Social Democratic Party
Children	Lukáš Matyáš
Website	hamacek.cz

Political career

Prior to his election to parliament, Hamáček worked as an adviser to two Prime Ministers, and as his party's International Secretary.

Hamáček has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since the 2006 elections. During his time in parliament, he has held the position of Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, headed the Czech delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and served on the Committee on European Affairs.[2]

Hamáček became the leader of CSSD in March 2018. In Andrej Babis' Second Cabinet, sworn in in June 2018, he was named Minister of the Interior, and also served as acting Minister of Foreign Affairs from June to October 2018. Miroslav Poche was originally nominated to be the minister, but due to President Miloš Zeman's refusal to swear him in, Hamáček was made acting foreign minister until the situation could be resolved. On 16 October 2018, Tomáš Petříček was named the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In August 2018, Hamáček helped negotiate the release of two workers from a German humanitarian group in Syria, and traveled to Damascus for the handover of the workers; the Czech Republic is the only country in Europe that maintains diplomatic relations with Syria.[3]

References

1. "Jan Hamacek". Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
2. Jan Hamáček Aspen Institute Central Europe.
3. Hovet, Jason (11 August 2018). "Czech diplomats secure release of German NGO workers in Syria". Reuters.

Party political offices
Preceded by Milan Chovanec	Leader of the Social Democratic Party 2018–present	Incumbent