Quick Facts
| Intro | German politician | ||
| A.K.A. | Franziska Keller | ||
| Is | Politician | ||
| From | Germany Germany | ||
| Field | Politics | ||
| Gender | female | ||
| Birth | 22 November 1981, Guben | ||
| Age | 40 years | ||
| Family |
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| Profiles |
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Biography
Franziska Maria "Ska" Keller (German pronunciation: [fʁanˈtsɪskɑː (skɑː) ˈkɛlɐ]; born 22 November 1981) is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for Alliance '90/The Greens. She is vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament as well as spokesperson on trade and migration. Ska Keller was the European Greens' frontrunner during the European elections 2014. She is currently serving her second term in in office, while she was first elected into the European Parliament at the age of 27 in 2009.
Education
Keller studied Islamic studies, Turkish and Jewish Studies at Free University of Berlin and at Sabancı Üniversitesi in Istanbul. She speaks, besides her native tongue German, also fluent English, French and Spanish, as well as some Turkish and Arabic.
Political career
Early beginnings
Since 2001 Keller has been a member of the Green Youth. From 2005 to 2007 she was spokesperson of the Federation of Young European Greens. In 2002 she joined the German Greens. She worked on a statewide referendum against new coal mines in Brandenburg.
Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present
During her first term between 2009 and 2012, Keller served on the Committee on Development. Since 2012, she has been a member of the Committee on International Trade. In addition to her committee assignments, Keller is also member of the Parliament’s delegation with the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee. In this capacity, she focuses on the issues of migration and the EU's relations with Turkey. Since 2015, she has been the Parliament's rapporteur on the temporary emergency relocation scheme of the EU.
From 2009 to 2011, Keller also served as member of the European Parliament’s High-Level Contact Group for Relations with the Turkish Cypriot Community in the Northern Part of the Island (CYTR).
In January 2014 Keller won the Green Primary, a pan-European open primary, together with José Bové, making her one of the "leading candidates" for the European Green Party.
Personal life
Keller is married to Finnish activist Markus Drake.
