Career
Szabó became an Member of the European Parliament as part of the European People"s Party–European Democrats, on January 1, 2007, with Romania"s accession to the European Union. Born in Dej, Cluj County, into an ethnic Hungarian family, he graduated from the Cluj-Napoca Polytechnic Institute. First elected to the Senate during the 1990 suffrage, which followed the Romanian Revolution, he was reelected in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, serving as head of the UDMR group in Parliament.
During his madates, he has served on the Defense, Public Order and National Safety Board, as well as on the Culture, Arts and Mass-Media Board.