Fabio Valeriano Lanfranco De Masi (born 7 March 1980) is a German-Italian politician. He was a member of the German Bundestag from 2017 to 2021 and was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 1 July 2014 to 23 October 2017. Until September 2022 he was a member of The Left Party, part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left.[1]
Fabio De Masi | |
|---|---|
 Fabio De Masi in 2024 | |
| Member of the European Parliament for Germany | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 23 October 2017 | |
| Succeeded by | Martin Schirdewan |
| Member of the Bundestag for Hamburg | |
| In office 24 October 2017 – 26 October 2021 | |
| Constituency | The Left Party List |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fabio Valeriano Lanfranco De Masi 7 March 1980 Groß-Gerau, West Germany |
| Citizenship | Germany • Italy |
| Political party | BSW (2024–present) |
| Other political affiliations | The Left (until 2022) Independent (2022–2024) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town |
| Website | www |
He joined party "Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht", BSW on 8 January 2024.
Early years
editDe Masi was born to a German language teacher and an Italian-born trade unionist. His Italian grandfather fought as a Partisan in Piedmont to liberate Italy from Fascism.[2] De Masi's father was a football amateur with SSC Napoli.[3]
Political career
editMember of the European Parliament, 2014–2017
editIn the 2014 European elections, De Masi became a Member of the European Parliament. During his time in office, he served on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2).[4][5] In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with South Africa.
Member of the German Parliament, 2017–2021
editDe Masi was a member of the German Bundestag since the 2017 elections, representing Hamburg. In parliament, he was serving on the Finance Committee. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the German-British Parliamentary Friendship Group, the German-Italian Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Southern African States. Since 2019, he was also a member of the German delegation to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly. In March 2021 De Masi said that he will not run for the Bundestag in the 2021 German federal election.[6]
Di Masi has long been a companion of the political figure Sahra Wagenknecht. He founded the “Get Up” ("Aufstehen") movement together with Wagenknecht in 2018.[7]
On 13 September 2022, De Masi announced that he left The Left Party, stating that he would not want anymore to be taken into responsibility for the blatant failure of the relevant actors in this party.“[8][9]
Engagement in BSW
editHe joined the new populist party of his former boss Sahra Wagenknecht. De Masi appeared at the newly formed party's press conference on January 8, 2024, and indicated that he was seeking political office with the BSW at 2024 European Parliament election.[7][10] Together with Thomas Geisel, he wants to become the party's top candidate.[11]
While other members abandoned the Left Party after Wagenknecht's call to end sanctions against Russia,[12] de Masi followed her and continues to call for "freezing" the war[13] and spreads narratives suggesting that Russia's aggression was a reaction to a NATO expansion [14] or that a peace treaty would have been possible in 2023.[15] He has previously also characterized the downing of MH-17 in 2014 as a "crash", rather than a shooting down.[16]
Other activities
edit- Berliner Steuergespräche, Member of the Adivsory Board[17]
- Finance Watch, Member
- FC St. Pauli, Member
- German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member
References
edit- ^ "Home | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
- ^ "Bundespressekonferenz zur Gründung der Partei „Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht - Vernunft & Gerechtigkeit"". youtube.com (in German). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ "Wie Fabio de Masi die Berliner Politik aufmischen will" (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ Jim Brunsden (September 16, 2015), Juncker set to avoid tough grilling on Luxembourg tax deals Financial Times.
- ^ Quentin Ariès (January 14, 2016), MEPs launch legal challenge on access to documents Politico Europe.
- ^ Tagesspiegel.de: Abgang mit Knalleffekt (german)
- ^ a b "Wagenknecht-Partei findet wohl neue prominente Mitglieder". www.t-online.de (in German). 2024-01-04. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
- ^ Höhne, Valerie (2022-09-13). "Nach Wagenknechts umstrittener Bundestagsrede: Linken-Politiker Fabio de Masi verlässt die Partei". Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-13.
- ^ "Linke: Finanzexperte Fabio De Masi verlässt die Partei". Spiegel Online (in German). 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
- ^ "Fabio De Masi: Ex-Linkenpolitiker schließt sich Partei von Sahra Wagenknecht an". Der Spiegel (in German). 2024-01-04. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
- ^ Schäfers, Manfred (2024-01-08). "Fabio De Masi: Einst Kloputzer, nun Spitzenkandidat". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
- ^ "Left Party faced with resignations after squabbles over Russia". 14 September 2022.
- ^ https://x.com/fabiodemasi/status/1787439325547737306?s=46&t=3LkydZWzVgnwtrmkCTw4tQ [bare URL]
- ^ e.g. https://x.com/fabiodemasi/status/1784351724456624265?s=46&t=3LkydZWzVgnwtrmkCTw4tQ
- ^ https://x.com/fabiodemasi/status/1752067116608475487?s=46&t=3LkydZWzVgnwtrmkCTw4tQ citing (or cherry-picking according to commentators) Oleksandr Chalyi
- ^ "Di Masi Comment on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
- ^ Berliner Steuergespräche: Beirat Berliner Steuergespräche (a club founded by BDI and law firm Poellath).