Leoluca Orlando

Democracy & Security in Europe.

Leoluca Orlando is a lawyer and politician with many years of experience in local, regional, national, and European politics. After earning his law degree with honors from the University of Palermo, he held positions at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and at the University of Heidelberg. He was admitted to the bar in 1971 and became a lecturer in regional public law at the University of Palermo in 1974.

He served as mayor of Palermo for the first time from 1985 to 1990, followed by additional terms from 1993 to 1997, 1997 to 2000, 2012 to 2017, and 2017 to 2022. He also served as a member of the Italian Parliament (1992–1993 and 2008–2012), a member of the Sicilian Regional Council (1991 and 2001–2006), and a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999. He has been a member of the European Parliament again since 2024.