| Imre Szekeres | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Defence of Hungary | |
| In office 9 June 2006 – 29 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Ferenc Juhász |
| Succeeded by | Csaba Hende |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 September 1950 Szolnok, Hungary |
| Political party | MSZMP, MSZP |
| Profession | politician |
Imre Szekeres (born 9 September 1950) is a Hungarian politician of the Hungarian Socialist Party and former Minister of Defense.
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Szekeres was born in Szolnok. He is married to a chemical engineer; they have two children.
He graduated from the Veszprém University of Chemical Engineering as a Chemical System Engineer in 1974. After graduation he spent three years at the Cybernetics Institute of the University as an assistant lecturer. Therewith he was preparing for a University Ph.D. degree. The subject of his 1977 PhD dissertation was the Development of Artificial Intelligence.
In 1985, he joined to the City Council of Veszprém, where he later became the deputy chairman. He was one of the first promoters and organizers of the reformist circle movement in Veszprém county. He was a founding member of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) in October 1989, and in his county he became the first president of the party. In May 1990 he was elected to be the national secretary of the party, then the executive vice-president in November. He was the party’s vice-president between 1994 and 1998. He was the campaign chief of his party during the general elections in 1994 and 1998. He was a member of the party’s national presidency between 1998 and 2003. Then he was re-elected to be the vice-president of MSZP in 2003. He is the deputy president of the party, since 2004 (re-elected: 2007), also associate president of the Economic Section and head of the Economic Policy Cabinet since 2002.
He was voted into the Parliament from individual constituency No. 2. (Jászapáti) of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County in 1994, 1998 and 2006. He obtained his mandate on the county’s party list in April 2002. He was the leader of the group of MSZP Members of the Parliament between 28 June 1994 and 17 June 1998. He was the Chairman of the Economic Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee and the EU Integration Subcommittee of the Parliament between 1998 and 2002. He was the Political State Secretary with general authority in the Prime Minister’s Office from 2002 till 2004. He was appointed to be the Minister of Defence on 9 June in 2006.
Szekeres was conferred on the Freeman of Jászapáti, he is a member of the Jász Association ("The people of Jászság Association") and other social organizations of Jászság (a geographical region of Hungary). He was elected to be the chairman of the Hungarian Triathlon Association in 2003, and re-elected in 2005.
He gave a speech before the officer corps of the Hungarian Army in honor of receipt of Gripen fighters on 28 January, 2008.[1] During the speech the minister has repeatedly failed, he said strangely some words. Several TV channels and news sites published the speech. According to many Szekeres was under the influence of alcohol, as a result he messed up the text.[2]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Elemér Kiss |
Minister of Prime Minister's Office Acting 2003 |
Succeeded by Péter Kiss |
| Preceded by Ferenc Juhász |
Minister of Defence 2006–2010 |
Succeeded by Csaba Hende |
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