Interview of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) with Dr. Solomon Passy on the nomination of Bulgaria's EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva for "European Commissioner of the Year" by The European Voice.

You can vote for Kristalina Georgieva on the European Voice website HERE

Passy is the founder and Honorary President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, the former Bulgarian Foreign Minister (in the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg in 2001-2005), and Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2004.

Why do you think Kristalina Georgieva deserved the nomination of The European Voice for Commissioner of the Year, and why does she deserve to win?

There are at least three major reasons this award should be given to the Bulgarian Commissioner.

The first one is that such a decision will be to the benefit of the entire world. Her responsibility of helping fight the effects of natural disasters and crises is the most philanthropic portfolio of the European Commission.

An award to the respective Commissioner will remind people what Europe is doing for the world. This, of course, will unleash the generosity of other global players, which will be great for the people in need around the world.

The second reason is an internally European one. Our Commissioner demonstrated that she possesses public communication qualities that are critically needed for the EU at the moment in order to restore the trust of the European citizens in the institutions of the Union.

These qualities must be encouraged and cultivated within the European Commission.

The third reason, which is also the most important one, is that Kristalina Georgieva is just doing her job perfectly.

The other nominees for the award are Commissioners Kallas, Reding, and Malstrom. What makes Kristalina Georgieva an even stronger candidate than them?

All four have been nominated for a reason. The competition is a very disputed one, and its outcome is not predetermined.

Pay attention to the fact that all four nominated Commissioners are from small and medium-sized EU member states. This goes to suggest that these countries appear more ambitious to protect the European interests over their selfish national interests.

In comparison with the three other nominees, Kristalina is present much more often in the world headlines. That is why if she wins, the added value for the EU will be much greater.

In the short period since the new European Commission started work in March, to what extent do you think Kristalina Georgieva has managed to give meaning to humanitarian aid as an element of the common foreign policy of the EU? How would you evaluate her work to date?

Haiti, Chile, Pakistan... The people there evaluated the EU because of her work, and these are not European states! I hope that now Bulgaria will support her, that will a sign of European confidence.

The Atlantic Club in Bulgaria is preparing a lecture of Kristalina Georgieva for November 1, (Bulgaria's National Enlighteners' Day), and we will be glad to encourage all of our compatriots to vote for her in the mean time. It is important for us to remind the EU that there are reasons to commend Bulgaria!

From your point of view, which are Kristalina Georgieva's greatest successes in this period of several months since she became the EU Commissioner for humanitarian aid?

Her greatest success is the fact that she immediately turned one of the most underestimated (even in Bulgaria) portfolios of the European Commission into a really prestigious one for the entire EU. This also gave a boost to the internal rating of the EU.

You don't belong to the same political party as the one that put forth Mrs. Georgieva. At the beginning of the year, in an interview for Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency), you expressed your indignation at the lack of nonpartisan support in Bulgaria for the country's previous nominee. Do you think there is a change in the political thinking in Bulgaria towards nonpartisanship on the EU level, or is your position just a rare exception?

I would love to see Bulgaria support the Bulgarians. I have always followed this rational, when I was in the government and when I have been outside it. Unfortunately, at the moment the dominant political thinking in Bulgaria is the opposite, it is more partisan than national. But the great meaning of the EU is in changing the way of thinking – from provincial to global. And this is inevitable.

Two years ago, Mrs. Meglena Kuneva, as a new European Commissioner, a woman, from a new member state, with a brand-new portfolio (consumer protection) was voted Commissioner of the Year by readers of The European Voice. If Bulgaria manages to repeat this success with Mrs. Georgieva, also a woman, also with a brand-new portfolio, would that be a reason to seek some kind of a pattern?

There is a pattern, and it is that Bulgarians are much more successful outside Bulgaria, unfortunately! (Look at John Atanassoff, Carl Djerassi, Elias Canetti.) But there is also good news: if we formulate a bigger objective (for example, EU membership, NATO membership, etc), and we put together the right persons for it, we can do a lot more than the world even suspects that we can!

The great niche for Bulgaria in the EU is that it needs more and new European integration. And I think that the choice of Kristalina Georgieva would be a natural confirmation of that. I hope that more Bulgarians become active and vote for her – they should know that they vote themselves in this way.

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