Othmar Karas (*1957, Ybbs/Donau) is an Austrian politician and, since 1999, Member of the European Parliament. In 2022 Karas was elected First Vice-President of the European Parliament. It is his third term (2012-2014, 2019-2022, Since 2022) as a Vice-President. Karas holds a diploma and doctoral degree in political science (University of Vienna) and a Master’s degree in European and international business law (University of St. Gallen) and has worked intermittently as a lecturer at Austrian universities since 2007. Since 1998, Karas has been the president of Hilfswerk Österreich, the No. 1 home care organisation in Austria. He is also chairman of the BürgerInnen Forum Europa, which he founded in 2009 and which aims to strengthen the role of Austrians in European politics.