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Paweł Zalewski
Polish politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Paweł Ksawery Zalewski (born 25 September 1964 in Warsaw) is a Polish politician and unaffiliated member of the Sejm and the European Parliament.[1][2] He has been a member of the Sejm from 1991—1993, 2005—2007, and 2019—2023[3][4] Until May 2021, he was affiliated with Civic Platform (PO).[5]
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Early life
Zalewski grew up in Żoliborz,[6] son of Jerzy Zalewski, an Operation Storm veteran.[7] His grandfather fought as part of the Legions, his grandmother was involved in the Polish Socialist Party, and his paternal great-uncle was Major Antoni Jabłoński, commander of the 11th Legions Uhlan Regiment.[6] His family is from the Świętokrzyskie Province near Bodzentyn.[8]
During high school, he became a School Olympiad academic laureate in history and was admitted to University of Warsaw's School of History without taking entrance examinations.[6][9] While at university, he joined the Forum of the Democratic Right, also known as the Democratic Union.[6] Zalewski completed his Master's degree, also at the University of Warsaw, in 1990;[10] his thesis was centered on Polish diplomats during the early days of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[6]
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Career
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Perspective
In 1991, Zalewski was elected to the Sejm as a Democratic Union party member in the 26 Siedlce electorical district.[3] He was elected again on 25 September 2005 as part of the Law and Justice platform with 14,068 votes in the 11 Sieradz district.[11] During his term, he served as the deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.[12][13] Despite being the party's vice president, he left Law and Justice in 2007 along with fellow member Kazimierz Ujazdowski after an argument with former Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński.[14][15] He joined the Civic Platform (PO) in 2009[16] and was a member of the European People's Party Group by 2012.[2][17] He was reelected to the Sejm in 2019 as a member of the PO with 12248 from the 20 Warsaw electoral district.[18]
Throughout his time as an MEP, he has served on a number of committees as well as on the European Parliament.[9] In 2009, he was a delegate for the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee; from 2009—2014, he was a delegate for Iran–Poland relations and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly; and from 2010—2014, he was a delegate for CARIFORUM.[2] He served as a substitute delegate for Belarus–Poland relations[2] and was a rapporteur of the DCFTA Agreement with Ukraine.[19] He has also been the vice chairman of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade[20] twice.[2]
In 2020, he criticized Vladimir Putin for "destroying historical truth".[21] In August 2021, he voted as an independent MEP against a proposal for increasing the president's salary.[22] In September, still without a party, he voted in favor of aiding Afghan refugees.[23]
2021 removal from the Civic Platform
On 14 May 2021, Zalewski and Ireneusz Raś were removed from the Sejm at the request of the Civic Coalition (KO).[12] They were summarily removed from PO and relieved of all committee responsibilities.[24][12] The ejection occurred after Zalewski and Raś signed a letter along with several senators and 49 other MEPs from PO and KO calling for a change in leadership within the coalition.[16][25][26] Both appealed their respective removal,[27] which the PO defended by criticizing Zalewski for sharing his contrary opinions with the media but refusing to speak up during diplomatic meetings during his years as a Sejm member.[28] The formal hearing has been postponed twice and is currently scheduled for 29 September 2021.[needs update][29]
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Selected honors
Personal life
Zalewski and his ex-wife have two daughters.[6] In 2018, he married Kinga Sitarska[32] and lost his mother.[33] In December 2020, his father died of COVID-19, age 93.[7]
References
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