Jaromír Štětina

Jaromír Štětina (born April 6, 1943 in Prague) is a Czech journalist, writer and politician. He is known to most as a war correspondent from the conflict areas of the former Soviet Union. Since 2014, Štětina has served as a member of the European Parliament for the Czech Republic.
During 1961-1967, Štětina studied at the University of Economics, Prague. In 1968, Štětina started working as a journalist for the newspaper Mladá Fronta, his work there coincided with the soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, during which the Soviet army seized control of Mladá Fronta. Štětina was subsequently fired due to his disagreement over the Warsaw Pact armies entering Czechoslovakia. After being fired from Mladá Fronta, Štětina worked as a geodesist, and while working, studied geology long-distance at Charles University in Prague, during which he organised 25 geologic or sport tours to Siberia and Asia. During the same years, Štětina wrote his most famous book, "S matyldou po Indu", on the topic of rafting.
In 1987 Štětina started engaging in public speakings. and In 1989, co-founded the syndicate of journalists, ultimately resuming his work as a journalist, at the re-established newspaper Lidové noviny. In 1990 Štětina started working as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, where he covered numerous conflicts in the former Soviet Union. In 1992, he founded the foundation Lidových novin. During 1993-94 he was editor-in-chief of Lidové noviny. In 1994, he founded the independent journalist agency Epicentrum, dedicated to war reporting, with fellow journalist Petra Procházková.
Štětina has specialised in military conflicts in Europe, Asia and Africa of which he has covered more than 20. Furthermore, Stetina is a prolific author, having published 10 books, as well as dozens of documentaries, and countless articles.
In the 2004 elections to the Senate (upper chamber of the Czech parliament) Štětina ran for office as an independent candidate under the umbrella of the Green Party (Strana Zelených), Štětina won the election, and assumed office as senator for the Prague 10 district.
Štětina is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.

Štětina has received a number of honours:

1. – State Order of merit awarded by the Czech Republic
2. – Ferdinand Peroutka Prize
3. – Rudolf Medek Prize
4. – Prize awarded by Johns Hopkins University, USA
5. – Price of Frantisek Krigel