German Christian Democrat (CDU, EPP) Elmar Brok was elected for the first time to the European Parliament in June 1980, and has been re-elected eight times, making him the longest serving MEP. He is also arguably the most influential MEP on foreign affairs, having chaired the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) between 1999 and 2007, and presiding over it again since 2012.
The European Commission has just published [on 25 March] its annual progress reports on the countries involved in…