Lajos Kósa (born 14 March 1964)[1] is a Hungarian politician, who served as Mayor of Debrecen between 1998 and 2014.[2] He has been a Member of Parliament since 1990.[2]

Lajos Kósa
Minister without Portfolio
for the development of towns with county rights
In office
2 October 2017 – 18 May 2018
Prime MinisterViktor Orbán
Leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group
In office
1 October 2015 – 1 October 2017
Preceded byAntal Rogán
Succeeded byGergely Gulyás
Mayor of Debrecen
In office
18 October 1998 – 12 October 2014
Preceded byJózsef Hevessy
Succeeded byLászló Papp
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
2 May 1990
First Vice-President of the Fidesz party
In office
13 May 2010 – 13 December 2015
Personal details
Born (1964-03-14) 14 March 1964 (age 60)
Debrecen, Hungary
Political partyFidesz
SpouseGyöngyi Porkoláb
Children
  • Anna
  • Eszter
  • Lilla
  • Levente
Professionpolitician

Kósa was appointed one of the four Vice Presidents of the Fidesz party in 2007, alongside Ildikó Pelczné Gáll, Zoltán Pokorni and Mihály Varga. He also secured an individual mandate during the parliamentary election in 2010. He retained his membership of the Local Government and Urban Development Committee.[2] He was nominated First or Managing Vice President of Fidesz, after Party President Viktor Orbán was appointed Prime Minister of Hungary on 14 May 2010.

He was appointed leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group on 1 October 2015. He became minister without portfolio responsible for the Modern Cities Program on 2 October 2017,[3] holding the position until 18 May 2018.

A huge scandal broke out in March 2018 involving Lajos Kósa and 4,3 billion euros.[4][5][6]

In November 2021 Mr. Kósa was the first Hungarian senior official who acknowledged that the country's Interior Ministry purchased and used military-grade spyware Pegasus.[7] Government of Viktor Orbán is accused of using it to spy on members of media as well as Hungarian opposition.

Personal life

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He is married. His wife is Gyöngyi Porkoláb. They have four children - three daughters, Anna, Eszter and Lilla and a son, Levente.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Biography" (PDF). Országgyűlés.
  2. ^ a b c "Register". Országgyűlés.
  3. ^ "Kósa Lajos hibátlanul letette az esküt!". Index.hu. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Hungarian Lawmaker Under Pressure Not to Run in April over Murky Bond Deal - the New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  5. ^ Bence, Horváth (13 March 2018). "Kósa Lajos: Valósnak tűntek az iratok, de németül voltak - 444".
  6. ^ "Another day, another Fidesz corruption scandal -- Lajos Kósa and the mysterious 4.35 billion euros". 13 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Hungarian official: Government bought, used Pegasus spyware". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  8. ^ Kft., New Wave Media Group. "Kósa Lajos vagyonnyilatkozata - 2003. február".
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Debrecen
1998–2014
Succeeded by
National Assembly of Hungary
Preceded by Leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group
2015–2017
Succeeded by