# Jan Zahradil

Jan Zahradil (born 20 March 1963) is a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) who had been Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 to 2024. Zahradil also served as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1998 to 2004.
A scientific researcher by profession, Zahradil entered politics during the Velvet Revolution. He was a member of the Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, before becoming an adviser to Prime Minister Václav Klaus. In 1998, Zahradil was elected to the national Chamber of Deputies. Three years later, he became vice-chairman of the ODS.From his election to the Chamber of Deputies until 2006, Zahradil was the ODS shadow minister for Foreign Affairs.

## Political career
### Early political career

From 1990 until 1992, Zahradil was a Member of the Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. From 1995 until 1997, he was a foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister, Václav Klaus. In 1998, Zahradil was elected as a Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic and held that position until 2004.
Zahradil was elected vice-chairman of ODS in 2001 and served as first vice-chairman between 2002 and 2004. In 2002 after the departure of Václav Klaus from the head of ODS, he applied for the post of the chairman of the ODS, but finished third in the election behind Mirek Topolánek and Petr Nečas. He was also vice-chairman of the ODS from 2014 to 2016.

### European Parliament

In October 2018, Zahradil announced his intention to become the European Conservatives and Reformists Group's candidate for the European Commission presidency. He was endorsed by the ECR Group the same year on 13 November, making him the first Spitzenkandidat from Eastern Europe. Since the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) was founded in 2010 Jan Zahradil has been its president.
In 2023, Zahradil resigned from the position of chairman of the ODS MEP club. At the same time, he announced that he will no longer be a candidate in the European Parliament elections in 2024. He was replaced by MEP Veronika Vrecionová as chairman of the ODS MEPs' club, MEP and several-time former Czech minister Alexandr Vondra became the leader of the ODS for the 2024 European Parliament elections.
One of the reasons for Jan Zahradil's departure from European politics was probably the connection of his ODS with other Czech center-right parties, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL in the SPOLU coalition. Jan Zahradil was an obstacle to this connection with his Eurosceptic views.

### Azerbaijan Statements

Zahradil made controversial statements whitewashing European Parliament's criticisms on the state of human rights in Azerbaijan, mentioned in three European Parliament resolutions in the period of 2015–2018. He called the resolutions "short-sighted, one-sided, one-issue resolutions" and argued that Azerbaijan is a "victim of political games" asserting that the EU should not sacrifice its partnership with Azerbaijan because of its geopolitical and energy significance for Europe.
In April 2018 a Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe investigation revealed that Azerbaijan blindfolded several members of PACE, bringing into play the infamous caviar diplomacy to tone down and soothe criticism towards Azerbaijan. These members were subjected to sanctions. Commenting on these events, Zahradil said: "The Council of Europe has made unilateral and biased decisions on Azerbaijan and it should be abolished".

## Political views

Zahradil has been described as Anglophile, Atlanticist, national liberal and libertarian who holds liberal viewpoints on immigration and same-sex marriage. He is a critic of the Czech monarchists and the Habsburg dynastic family, which ruled the Czech state from 1526 to 1918, because of which in the past he got into a dispute with the Czech Christian Democrats and the Czech Catholic Church. In the post-Babiš premiership era of ODS, his views (e.g. on the European Union, on cooperation with former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš or on the overall concept of politics) can be described as minority, which may be one of the reasons for his planned departure from the European Parliament.