Joachim Zeller (1 July 1952 – March 2023) was a Polish-born German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party.
Joachim Zeller | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1 July 2009 – 2019 | |
| Constituency | Germany |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 July 1952 Opole, Poland |
| Died | March 2023 (aged 70) Poland |
| Political party |  German:Christian Democratic Union  EU:European People's Party |
| Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
| Website | www |
Early life and career
editBorn in Opole, Upper Silesia, Zeller attended the Humboldt University of Berlin. From 1977 to 1992, he was employed at the university library as a research associate. From 1996 to 2006, he served as mayor of the Berlin borough of Mitte.
Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2019
editZeller first became a Member of the European Parliament in the 2009 European elections. In his first term between 2009 and 2014, he served on the Committee on Regional Development. From 2014, he was a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control.
From 2009, Zeller served as a member of the parliament’s delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. In 2014, he also joined the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
Zeller regularly monitored elections on behalf of the European Parliament. He was a member of the parliament’s 15-member monitoring mission for Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2012, led by Pawel Kowal.[1] He also took part in the following monitoring mission during the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in 2014, this time led by Andrej Plenković.[2] He later represented the European Parliament in the OSCE/ODIHR international observation mission for the 2019 Moldovan parliamentary election.[3]
In April 2018, Zeller announced that he would not stand in the 2019 European elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[4]
Controversy
editDuring the Azerbaijani presidential elections in 2013, Zeller participated in the official election observation mission by the European Parliament, led by Pino Arlacchi; the resulting report on the election was subsequently criticized as markedly kinder than the verdict of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which found significant problems with every stage of the campaign, including intimidation of candidates and voters, the stuffing of ballot boxes, and intimidation of journalists.[5]
In April 2012, Zeller was one of 28 EP politicians who voted against a move to restrict the export of information technology to autocratic regimes.[6]
Death
editZeller died in March 2023, at the age of 70.[7]
References
edit- ^ Pole to head election mission in Ukraine European Voice, 27 September 2012.
- ^ Jeanette Minns (9 October 2014), Parliament’s mission to Ukrainian elections European Voice.
- ^ EP delegation to observe parliamentary elections in Moldova European Parliament, press release of 22 February 2019.
- ^ Hildburg Bruns (24 April 2018), Berliner Polit-Duell um EU: Welcher Berliner CDU-Mann löst das Ticket fürs Europäische Parlament? B.Z..
- ^ Andrew Gardner and Toby Vogel (16 October 2013), European Parliament goes soft on flawed Azerbaijan election European Voice.
- ^ "Who Voted Against Restricting Sales of Spy Tech to Dictators? These European Politicians". Slate.com. 19 April 2012.
- ^ Zum Tod von Joachim Zeller: Nicht ganz so typisch Berliner CDU (in German)
External links
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