Bureaucrat, poet, journalist among 28-member EU delegation visting J&K

After the approval from the Indian authorities, 28 lawmakers from the European Union will be visiting the State of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. Belonging to the various parts of Europe, each of these leaders hails from different countries. This comes after the EU delegation met PM Modi and NSA Ajit Doval on Monday and discussed the situation prevailing in Kashmir post the abrogation of Article 370. PM Modi after meeting the EU members expressed hope that they have fruitful visits to the various parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir. 

Detailed description of each Parliamentarian visiting J&K 

United Kingdom 

The lawmakers visiting J&K from the United Kingdom include Nathan Gill, David Richard Bull, Bill Newton Dunn, Alexandra L Phillips, and James Wells. Nathan Lee Gill has been serving as the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales since 2014. He is a British Brexit party politician and he has also served as the MEP for UK Independence Party until he defected in 2018. David Richard Bull is the MEP for North West England, apart from this, he is also an English TV presenter and author who has appeared on TV programs like Sugar Dome, BBC’s Watchdog, Newsround, Watchdog Healthcheck, etc.  

William Francis Newton Dun is the MEP from the East Midlands and belongs to the Liberal Democrat party who was earlier the MEP of Lincolnshire from 1979 to 1994. He has also served in the Conservative party until 2000. Alexandra Lesley Philips is the MEP of the Brexit Party from South East England. She has headed the media at the UK Independence Party earlier and left UKIP in September 2016. James Wells is the MEP from Wales who is a part of the Brexit Party. He is a prospective parliamentary candidate for Islwyn as well. Earlier, he has served as the head of trade at Office for National Statistics in the UK.  

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Italy 

The European Union members visiting J&K from Italy include Fulvio Martusciello, Giuseppe Ferrandino, Gianna Gancia and Silvia Sardone. Fulvio Martusciello is the MEP from the Forza Italia party since 2014. He is also in the commission of environment, public health and food security in Italy. Giuseppe Ferrandino is the MEP from Southern Italy and he is currently serving on the committee of Economy and Monetary Affairs in Italy. Gianna Gancia is the MEP from North-West Italy and she has served as the head of Regional Council of Piedmont in 2014 and President of the province of Cuneo in 2009. Silvia Serafina Sardone is an Italian politician from the League party who has been the MEP since 2019. 

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Poland 

Ryszard Czarnecki, Kosma Zlotowski, Bogdan Rzonca, Elzbieta Rafalska, Joana Kopcinska, Grzegorz Tobiszowski are the European lawmakers that will be visiting J&K from Poland. Ryszard Henryk Czarnecki is an MEP from Poland and he is the member of the Law and Justice party, he has also served in the Self-Defense party before 2008. Kosma Zlotowski is also a member of the Law and Justice party who has been the MEP of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Bogdan Rzonca is the MEP from the Law and Justice Party and he is the Marshal and Deputy Marshal of Podkarpackie Voivodship and Voivode (governor) of Krosno.  

Elzbieta Rafalska is the MEP from Poland and she has served as the Minister of Labour and Social Policy in the country. She has also been a part of the lower house of the Polish parliament Sejm. Apart from being the MEP for the 9th term Joana Kopcinska is also a local government activist, doctor and has been the chairwoman of the city council in Łódź from 2013 to 2014. Grzegorz Tobiszowski, a member of the Law and Justice Party, is also a member of Sejm, which is the lower house of the Polish government. He was first elected to the house in 2005. 

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Germany 

Visiting J&K from Germany are Bernhard Zimniok and Lars Patrick Berg. Member of European Parliament since 2019, Bernhard Zimniok hails from a communications, engineering and political science background. Lars Patrick Berg is a politician and MEP from the Alternative for Germany party. He has earlier served as the Member of Parliament from Baden-Württemberg. 

France 

The lawmakers visiting J&K from France are Thierry Mariani, Julie Lechanteux, Maxette Pirbakas, Virginie Joron, Nicolas Bay and France Jamet. Thierry Mariani is a member of the French National Assembly for the Eleventh Overseas Constituency. He has also served as the Secretary of State for Transport and the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable development, and housing from 2010 to 2012. Julie Lechanteux, on the other hand, is the Mayor of Frejus under the David Rachline and the Departmental Councillor in France.  

Maxette Grisoni-Pirbakas is a Member of the European Parliament and she is also the trade union leader in Guadeloupe, known for her fights for farmers. Virginie Joron is a new MEP who was elected only in 2019, she is the part of the political party National Rally. Nicolas Bay is the MEP from France who has served as the General Secretary of the National Rally party. Earlier he has also served as the Municipal Councillor for Elbeuf in the Normandy region. MEP France Jamet is the regional councillor of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, she was elected in 2004 an in 2009 she was selected as the National Front party’s candidate. 

Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, and Slovakia  

Tomas Zdechovsky from the Czech Republic has been the Member of the European Parliament with the KDU-CSL party since 2014. He also has three masters' degrees and identifies as a poet and author. Hermann Tertsch of Spain from the VOX party is a Spanish journalist and politician. He is a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Tom Vandendriessche from Belgium is the MEP and a politician from Vlaams Belang. Peter Pollak from Slovakia, who was elected as the MEP will also be visiting J&K with other lawmakers. 

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