| Krisztina Morvai | |
|---|---|
Krisztina Morvai in 2009 |
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| Born | June 22, 1963 Budapest, Hungary |
| Alma mater | Eötvös Loránd University King's College London |
| Occupation | politician, lawyer |
| Political party | Elected on Movement for a Better Hungary ticket. |
| Spouse | György Baló; 3 children |
Krisztina Morvai (born 22 June 1963) is a Hungarian lawyer. She was elected on the list of the political party Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom (Movement for a Better Hungary) in the 2009 European Parliament elections. Although Morvai is not a member of Jobbik,[1] the party already declared[2] her as its future nominee for the position of the president of Hungary. She's the sixth most popular politician in Hungary.[3]
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Morvai was born in Budapest in 1963 to parents Klári Fekete and Miklós Morvai. After graduating from ELTE Apáczai Csere János High School, she went to Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, getting a law degree cum laude. After graduation she gained qualifications to practice as a judge in Hungary, but instead of working in that capacity she went on to teach at the university, currently as an associate professor.[4] In 1989 she was the first recipient of a British Government scholarship for students in central Europe and was presented with her award by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher personally. She used the scholarship to study advanced law at King's College London gaining a Master of Laws degree. In 1993-1994 she taught law in the United States at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a Fulbright scholar.[5] She primarily researches the area of penal law, dealing with the retrospective administration of justice, the question of abortion, victim's rights in criminal procedure, the dignity and rights of the HIV positive, child abuse and sexual exploitation, the problem of prostitution, discrimination and domestic violence. She is author of the book Terror a családban (Terror in the family) a book on domestic violence.
In the 1990s, Morvai worked for the European Commission of Human Rights where she was shocked to discover that the Commission spies electronically on the computer usage of its own researchers,[6] and between 2003-2006 she was a member of the Women's Anti-discrimination Committee of the United Nations.[7]
Morvai had come to international attention several times over various human rights issues. She was the Hungarian member of a UN Women's Rights Committee and on one occasion she notably defended the human rights of sex workers and on another those of Arab women in Israel.
She is the mother of three daughters, including (twins). She and her husband György Baló, a Hungarian television reporter, no longer live together but believe that "the best thing for the children is when both parents are there for them. We live in the same house, but in two separate households."[8] After announcing her candidacy for the European elections, Morvai became a focus of attention for the media, shunning interviews with the United Kingdom press in light of what she saw as biased attacks.[9] During the election campaign, Morvai said that if it entered parliament, Jobbik would join “one of the eurosceptic factions which will only form in the light of the election results”. On 7 June 2009, Morvai was elected MEP (Member of the European Parliament) along with two of her colleagues on the Jobbik ticket. After the election Morvai stated that despite the large amount of defamation Jobbik was calling on its political opponents to come together and cooperate to achieve the goals of the country.[10][11] György Baló was not given his usual role of leading the election coverage to avoid accusations of bias.[12]
Morvai has been called antisemitic,[13] especially after her statement that "So-called proud Hungarian Jews should go back to playing with their tiny little circumcised tails." [14]
In the UN Women's Rights Committee Morvai conducted research into what she called the "inhumane living conditions" of Palestinian women,[15] which resulted in a complaint being filed against her by the Israeli government.[16] In 2006, after she was removed from her UN position, she complained that this was due to Israeli political pressure which resulted in her losing her seat and being replaced by a Hungarian Jewish woman, Andrea Pető, whom she described as "a well-known zionist activist".[17] Pető, actually an activist of the feminist, Jewish traditionalist cultural foundation Esztertáska, did not receive the necessary votes to be confirmed to the committee.[17] In March 2009 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency[18] and Jungle World quoted an undated and otherwise unreported speech in 2008 in which Morvai "advised" the "liberal-bolshevick zionists" to "start thinking of where to flee and where to hide".[19] Morvai made a similar suggestion in a letter addressed to the editors of the weekly Élet és Irodalom.[20] In February 2009, Morvai objected to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and called it a "mass murder" and "genocide" of the Palestinian people and in an open letter to the Israeli ambassador to Hungary wrote that Israel held itself above the law and that its leaders would be imprisoned for their actions in Gaza, she continued, "The only way to talk to people like you is by assuming the style of Hamas. I wish all of you lice-infested, dirty murderers will receive Hamas' 'kisses.'" [21] In November 2009, Palestinian Return Centre withdrew Morvai's invitation to a London conference in support of Palestine.[22]
Morvai wrote an open letter[23] to Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, United States Ambassador to Hungary, on the occasion that the ambassador visited the headquarters of three parties but not that of the Jobbik, on the night of the 2010 general election. This was answered[24] by Richard Field, an American businessman, living in Hungary, the main financial supporter of the party Politics Can Be Different.