European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

A Hungarian politician, Anna Júlia Donáth is a Member of the European Parliament for the Renew Europe group. Passionate about fundamental human rights, her work largely focuses on labour rights, the rule of law, non-discrimination and civic space. As an MEP, she sits on the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) committees and belongs to the Democracy, Rule of Law & Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group. She also contributes to the parliamentary investigation on the use of Pegasus and other surveillance spyware and has been assigned to the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE). Notably, she has been lauded for her use of social media to connect with citizens. She is a leading figure of the Hungarian Momentum Movement political party and led protests against an unjust labour law, nicknamed the ‘slave law’.

Jávor is a Hungarian environmentalist, who currently heads the Representation of Budapest to the EU. He is former member of the European Parliament, during which time he focused on the policy areas of climate and environment, energy, anti-corruption and Roma inclusion. As an MEP, he was a founding member of the Dialogue for Hungary party and served as the first vice-chair of the Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. As a former member of parliament in the Hungarian National Assembly, Jávor served as leader of the Hungarian opposition party, Politics Can Be Different, and chair of the Sustainable Development Committee for most of his mandate. Prior to his career in politics, Jávor was a professor and lecturer in environmental law and has authored several articles and publications on sustainable development. He is also a founding member of Védegylet (Protect the Future), an NGO which aims to raise awareness of global environmental threats.

András Tivadar Kulja is a surgeon and digital-health expert who was elected to the European Parliament in June 2024 on the ticket of Hungary’s opposition Tisza Party. With 360,000 followers on TikTok, he has Hungary’s most widely-viewed health-education channel. Kulja used his high social media profile to counter disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired to enter politics after attending an opposition rally in April 2024, Kulja gave up his hospital posts to speak freely about Hungary’s healthcare problems. He is a Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Climate, and Food Safety and a member of the Committee on Public Health, where he advocates for a stronger EU role in promoting healthcare reform.

Before becoming Executive Director of UNICEF Hungary in 2017, Antonia was a well-known Hungarian journalist, television presenter, author and documentary filmmaker. She has interviewed just about every EU politician that visited Hungary in recent years. She hosted Hungary’s main evening current affairs programme from 2007 to 2011, but was forced to leave the national public broadcaster MTV, along with thousands of colleagues after the new government “reorganised” public broadcasting and has been working at ATV, an independent news channel ever since. Antonia has participated in charitable projects and literacy campaigns aimed at helping the Roma population. For the last few years she has also been asked to head a Hungarian foundation recognising and rewarding journalistic achievements and organising events and workshops for media professionals. She is an English Literature graduate from ELTE University in Budapest.