Paweł Zalewski | |
---|---|
Sejm member | |
Current | |
Assumed office 2019 | |
President | Andrzej Duda |
Prime Minister | Mateusz Morawiecki |
Constituency | 20 Warsaw |
Sejm | |
In office 2005–2007 | |
President | Lech Kaczyński |
Prime Minister | Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Jarosław Kaczyński |
Constituency | 11 Sieradz |
Sejm | |
In office 1991–1993 | |
President | Lech Wałęsa |
Prime Minister | Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, Jan Olszewski, Waldemar Pawlak, Hanna Suchocka |
Constituency | 26 Siedlce |
Personal details | |
Born | Paweł Ksawery Zalewski 25 September 1964 Warsaw, Poland |
Citizenship | Polish |
Political party | Poland 2050 (2021—present) |
Other political affiliations | Forum of Democratic Right (1990-1991)
independent(2021) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Warsaw |
Occupation | Politician |
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]
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]
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]
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]
Award | Award Body | Year | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity | Italy | 2006 | [30] |
Legion of Honour | France | 2007 | [ citation needed] |
Presidential Order of Excellence | Georgia | 2013 | [31] |
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]