István was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in May 2014, where he is currently the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and substitute member in the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. 2009-2010, he was State Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, and between 2010-2014, he was Deputy Speaker in the Hungarian National Assembly. Next to his political activities, István is currently special ambassador to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). He is also founder of OBOR - Europe-China “One Belt One Road” Culture & Tourism Development Committee and of the Confucius Institute at the University of Szeged.