Kira Marie Peter-Hansen

Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (born 23 February 1998) is a Danish politician. She is a Socialist People's Party (part of the Greens–European Free Alliance group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) elected in the 2019 European parliamentary election. Peter-Hansen is the youngest ever MEP.

Kira Marie Peter-Hansen

MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for Denmark
Assumed office
2 July 2019[1][2]
Personal details
Born (1998-02-23) 23 February 1998
Frederiksberg, Capital Region of Denmark
NationalityDanish
Political partySocialist People's Party
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

Kira Marie Peter-Hansen was born on 23 February 1998 in Frederiksberg, Capital Region of Denmark.[3] She grew up in Værløse, Furesø Municipality. Peter-Hansen joined the youth wing of the Socialist People's Party, the Youth of the Socialist People's Party in 2015.[4] Peter-Hansen is a financial officer in the organisation. The party is left-wing, socialist, and supports green policy.[5] Prior to her political career, she also worked as a barista.[6] Peter-Hansen was the campaign manager for Astrid Aller's successful election as Copenhagen councillor in the 2017 Danish local elections.[7][8]

European Parliament

Danish politician Karsten Hønge stood as a candidate for the Socialist People's Party in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He was second on the party's list, and was elected as one of its two MEPs (the other being Margrete Auken) in Denmark. However he chose not to take his seat to seek re-election in the 2019 Danish general election.[9]

Peter-Hansen was nominated to become an MEP, in his place, as she had received the next highest number of votes of any of the party's candidates.[10] At the age of 21 years, 3 months, and 3 days, she is the youngest ever MEP.[11] The previous youngest was the German politician Ilka Schröder who was one month older when she was elected as an Alliance 90/The Greens MEP in the 1999 European parliamentary election.[11][12][13] In order to concentrate on her political career, Peter-Hansen dropped out of her economics course at Copenhagen University.[4]

In the European Parliament, Peter-Hansen is a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in which she serves as coordinator for the Greens, and is part of the delegation for relations with India. She is also a substitute member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.[3] In 2020, she also joined the Subcommittee on Tax Matters.[14]

Political positions

Peter-Hansen has described her main priorities in parliament to be to promote environmentally friendly policy, and to renegotiate the Common Agricultural Policy.[15][16][17] Peter-Hansen also advocates for LGBT rights.[18]

References
  1. "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. "Kira Marie Peter-Hansen". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. Munk, Lene (3 June 2019). "Vi sms'ede med Kira Peter-Hansen, mens hun tog til Bruxelles og mødte sine nye". Uniavisen (in Danish). Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  5. "The Socialist People's Party of Denmark (Socialistisk Folkeparti)". Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  6. "Declarations" (PDF). European Parliament. 2 July 2019. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. "Kom til Europa-politisk dag den 6 oktober!" (in Danish). Netavis. 2 October 2018. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  8. "Astrid Aller" (in Danish). Copenhagen Municipality. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. "Kira Peter-Hansen får Hønges plads: Jeg er lidt i chok". Berlingske (in Danish). 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  10. Nielsen, Mads Korsager; Gram, Kasper Duncan (27 May 2019). "Her er Karsten Hønges 21-årige afløser: Jeg håber, de gamle nisser er søde ved mig" (in Danish). DR. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  11. Morgan, Alexander (31 May 2019). "21-year-old Danish student Kira Peter-Hansen becomes youngest MEP in history". Euronews. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  12. "Ilka Schröder". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  13. "Meet the European Parliament's youngest ever MEP". BBC News. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  14. Members of the Subcommittee on Tax Matters European Parliament, press release of July 9, 2020.
  15. Brzozowski, Alexandra (3 July 2019). "Interview with Kira Peter-Hansen, the youngest MEP ever elected". Euractiv. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  16. "Youngest-ever EU lawmaker takes up the climate challenge". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  17. Wolf, Thembi (28 June 2019). "Kira ist die jüngste Europaabgeordnete aller Zeiten – wie ist es, 21 und Parlamentarierin zu sein?" (in German). Bento. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  18. Christensen, Maiken Brusgaard (27 May 2019). "21-årig SF'er får plads i EU - dropper studiet og flytter til Bruxelles" (in Danish). TV 2. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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