Anna Donáth

The native form of this personal name is Donáth Anna Júlia. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Anna Donáth
MEP
Donáth in 2019
Member of the European Parliament
In office
2 July 2019[1] – 16 July 2024
ConstituencyHungary
Leader of Momentum Movement
In office
28 January 2024 – 7 July 2024
Preceded byFerenc Gelencsér
Succeeded byMárton Tompos
In office
21 November 2021 – 29 May 2022
Preceded byAnna Orosz (interim)
Succeeded byFerenc Gelencsér
Personal details
Born (1987-04-06) 6 April 1987 (age 37)
Budapest, Hungary
Political partyMomentum (since 2016)
Children1
Alma mater
Websitedonathanna.hu

Anna Júlia Donáth (born 6 April 1987) is a Hungarian politician. She was elected as a Momentum Movement (part of the Renew Europe group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2019 European Parliament election. Donáth was the leader of the party between 21 November 2021 and 29 May 2022, and also from 28 January to 7 July 2024.

Early life and career

Donáth was born on 6 April 1987 in Budapest, Hungary, to László Donáth and Ildikó Muntag.[2] She is the youngest of three siblings. Her father is a former pastor and former member of parliament for the Hungarian Socialist Party.[3] Her paternal grandfather, Ferenc Donáth, is of Jewish descent, and was a lawyer and one of the three secretaries of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[3][4][5][6]

Donáth's early education was at Veres Péter High School in Békásmegyer, Budapest.[7] She studied sociology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and migration and ethnic studies at the University of Amsterdam.[8] After graduating, she completed an internship at the European Commission, before returning to Hungary to become a project manager for the non-governmental organization (NGO), Menedék.[4][8] She joined the Momentum Movement in 2016, and became its vice president in June 2018.[9][10] Donáth was a candidate for the centrist party in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election.[11] The party did not win any seats in the election.[12]

In December 2018, Donáth participated in a protest against the Hungarian government's new labour law dubbed by opponents as "the slave law", which raised the overtime yearly cap for workers from 250 to 400 hours, and allowed businesses three years instead of one year to pay for the overtime.[13] Donáth was arrested at the protest, and later released.[14]

European Parliament

Donáth stood as a candidate for Momentum Movement in the 2019 European Parliament election in Hungary. She was second on her party's list, and was elected as one of its two MEPs (the other being Katalin Cseh) in Hungary.[15][16] She represents the third generation of her family to enter political office (after her father and her paternal grandfather).[17] In the European Parliament, Donáth is a member of the Renew Europe party group.[2] She serves on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. In this capacity, she is also member of the Democracy, Rule of Law & Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group.[18] In 2022, she joined the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware.[19][20] In addition to her committee assignments, Donáth is part of the parliament's delegation to the European Union–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee,[2] the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance,[21] and the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.[22]

After becoming an MEP, Donáth gained immunity from prosecution for her participation in the December 2018 labour law protest, however Donáth chose to waive it on 29 May 2019.[23] Donáth was elected leader of the Momentum Movement on 21 November 2021. She acquired 56.6 percent of the vote, defeating Anna Orosz (28.9%) and Gábor Hollai (14.5%).[24] Following the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election, where the opposition alliance United for Hungary, including Momentum, suffered a heavy defeat, Donáth announced on 9 May 2022 that she was pregnant and would not stand for the party's renewal election. She was succeeded by Ferenc Gelencsér.[25]

Donáth returned to the Hungarian politics as leader of Momentum in January 2024.[26] Under her leadership, the party wanted to develop an independent political image from the other opposition parties. Donáth refused to join DK–MSZP–Dialogue Alliance and ran independently the 2024 European Parliament election and 2024 Budapest Assembly election too. Ahead of the 2024 European Parliament election in Hungary, which would hold its six-month European Union presidency from July 2024, she was considered among the MEPs to watch and described as one of "the most prominent Orbán opposers in the Parliament".[27] However, Momentum failed to win mandates in both EP and Budapest municipal elections too (thus Donáth also lost her seat in the European Parliament), therefore Donáth and the entire leadership of Momentum resigned on 10 June 2024.[28]

Recognition

In December 2020, Donáth received an award at The Parliament Magazine's annual MEP Awards for best use of Social Media.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Anna Júlia Donáth". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Donáth László". National Assembly. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b McLaughlin, Daniel (24 December 2018). "New generation taps Hungary's protest tradition to take on Orbán". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Ferenc Donath". Garden of the Righteous Worldwide. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  6. ^ "The Revolt in Hungary" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. ^ "1997–2005 b". Veres Péter High School. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b "We are Europe" (PDF). Union of European Federalists. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  9. ^ "'Hirtelen találtam egy közösséget' – teltházas bemutatkozót tartott a Momentum". Szeretlek Magyarország (in Hungarian). 22 January 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  10. ^ Domschitz, Mátyás (14 June 2018). "Női alelnöke lett a Momentumnak" (in Hungarian). Index. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Budapest főváros 10.számú egyéni választókerület (Budapest III. kerület) eredménye" (in Hungarian). National Election Office. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  12. ^ Mortimer, Caroline (21 June 2019). "Hungarian political party offers punching bags for Budapest residents as part of election campaign". Euronews. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  13. ^ Karasz, Palko; Kingsley, Patrick (22 December 2018). "What Is Hungary's 'Slave Law,' and Why Has It Provoked Opposition?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  14. ^ Hopkins, Valerie (21 December 2018). "Women in Hungary lead charge in pushback against Orban". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  15. ^ Juli, Boros (22 December 2018). "Két női listavezetővel indul az EP-választáson a Momentum" (in Hungarian). 444. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  16. ^ Oltermann, Philip; Walker, Shaun; Giuffrida, Angela (27 May 2019). "An NBA star, a TV chef and a comedian: meet some of the new MEPs". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  17. ^ Cseri, Péter (2 May 2019). "Donáth László és Donáth Anna: A mi családunkban nem armageddon, ha bevisznek a rendőrök". 168 Óra (in Hungarian). Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  18. ^ Democracy, Rule of Law & Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group, 2019–2024 European Parliament.
  19. ^ Members of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware European Parliament.
  20. ^ Parliament names MEPs to sit on three new committees European Parliament, press release of 24 March 2022.
  21. ^ Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance European Parliament.
  22. ^ Members European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights.
  23. ^ "Lemond mentelmi jogáról Donáth Anna". Heti Világgazdaság (in Hungarian). 30 May 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  24. ^ Cseke, Balázs (21 November 2021). "Donáth Annát választották a Momentum új elnökének". Telex.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Donáth Confirms Pregnancy, Won't Run for Momentum Presidency Again". hungarianpolitics.com. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  26. ^ Újra Donáth Anna lett a Momentum elnöke – Hvg.hu, 2024-01-28.
  27. ^ "24 MEPs I'm watching this election". Politico. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Lemondott Donáth Anna és a teljes elnökség a Momentum vasárnapi veresége után". telex (in Hungarian). 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  29. ^ Johnson, Brian (2 December 2020). "MEP Awards 2020: Reaction and comment from our winners". The Parliament Magazine. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Anna Orosz
(acting)
 President of the Momentum Movement
2021–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Momentum Movement
2024 		Succeeded by