Kati Piri

Kati Piri (born 8 April 1979) is a Hungarian-born Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands since July 2014. She is a member of the Labour Party, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.

Kati Piri MEP
Kati Piri in 2014
Member of the European Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2014
Constituency	Netherlands
Personal details
Born	(1979-04-08) 8 April 1979 Celldömölk, Hungary
Political party	Labour Party Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Alma mater	University of Groningen
Website	www.katipiri.nl

Career

Piri was born in on 8 April 1979 in Celldömölk, Hungary. She went to the Christelijk Gymnasium (Christian Gymnasium, Dutch type grammar school with classical languages) in Utrecht between 1991 and 1997. Piri studied the first years of pedagogy at the University of Groningen between 1998 and 2000 and then switched to international relations, graduating in 2007.[1] During her studies, she briefly interned with Frans Timmermans’ parliamentary office in the House of Representatives.[2]

Piri worked as a political advisor to the Dutch Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) delegation in the European Parliament between 2006 and 2008. In that latter year she became political advisor for foreign policy to the European Parliament group the Labour Party is in, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.[1] She worked as an advisor to the delegation working on relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. In 2011 Piri worked some months at the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, a think tank linked to the Labour Party. Later that year she became programme manager for the Southern-Caucasus and Moldova at the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy.[1]

Member of the European Parliament

Kati Piri during a radio debate in 2014

In 2014 Piri stood as a candidate for the European Parliament. Piri occupied the third place on the Labour Party list for the European Parliament elections of 2014, after Paul Tang and Agnes Jongerius. She cited upholding democratic standards and the respect for human rights as internal motivations to take up the candidacy.[3] She was elected to the European Parliament in May 2014.[1]

In the European Parliament, Piri has since been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. During her first term, she served as the Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey's EU membership.[4] In 2020, she also joined the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union.[5]

In addition to her committee assignments, Piri is a member of the delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee. From 2014 until 2019, she was part of the delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.[6] She is also part of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.[7]

Piri is a member of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG), which oversees the Parliament’s election observation missions.[8] She was part of the parliament's mission to observe Ukraine's 2014 parliamentary elections, led by Andrej Plenkovic.[9]

Following the 2019 elections, Piri was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman Iratxe García.[10]

Other activities

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member of the Council[11]

Political positions

In July 2016, after the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and subsequent purges, Piri called for firm language by the EU towards Turkey.[12] In August 2016 Piri stated that Europe demonstrated a lack of support after the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.[13] In November 2016, Turkish authorities refused to have a meeting with Piri in her capacity as Turkey rapporteur of the European Parliament.[14]

In November 2019 she criticized the veto by the European Council to start the accession procedures of Albania and North Macedonia to the EU. She stated that the countries already made significant reforms and it also drove them towards cooperation with China, Turkey and Russia.[15]

References

1. "Drs. K. (Kati) Piri" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
2. Ryan Heath (March 9, 2017), The 40 MEPs who matter in 2017: #11 Kati Piri Politico Europe.
3. Antje Koelewijn (13 May 2014). "Interview met Kati Piri, de nr. drie van de lijst voor Europa" (in Dutch). Partij van de Arbeid. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
4. Maïa de La Baume (April 14, 2016), MEPs vote to criticize Turkey on democracy Politico Europe.
5. Members of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union European Parliament, press release of July 9, 2020.
6. "Kati Piri". European Parliament. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
7. Members European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights.
8. Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) European Parliament
9. Jeanette Minns (October 9, 2014), Parliament's mission to Ukrainian elections European Voice.
10. The S&D Group elects its new Bureau S&D Group, press release of June 19, 2019.
11. Members of the Council European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
12. "'EU moet duidelijke taal spreken tegen Turkije'" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
13. "'EU heeft Turkije te weinig gesteund'" (in Dutch). Financieel Dagblad. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
14. Elif Isitman (16 November 2016). "EP-rapporteur Kati Piri is 'niet welkom' in Turkije" (in Dutch). Elsevier. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
15. Kati Piri (13 November 2019). ""Nee" voor Albanië & Noord-Macedonië is strategische blunder" (in Dutch). Clingendael Spectator. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020.

External links

• Kati Piri, official website (in Dutch)
• Kati Piri on the website of the European Parliament