Othmar Karas, First Vice-President of the European Parliament Othmar Karas (born 24 December 1957) is an Austrian politician (ÖVP) who has been serving as the First Vice-President of the European Parliament since January 2022, having been an MEP since 1999. He held the position of EP Vice-President from 2019 to 2021 and from 2012 to 2014. Karas is also Vice-Chair of the FISC Subcommittee and a Member of the ECON, ITRE and AFCO Committees. In 2017, Karas received his Doctorate Degree in Political Science from the University of Vienna. In addition to his activities as President of the Austrian "Hilfswerk", Karas founded the non-party association "Citizens' Forum Europe" in 2010 of which he is still the spokesman today. In the EP, he is a Member of the EPP Group, where he held the Vice-Presidency from 2004 to 2011.