Just in a couple of months the predominantly male "board" of EU commissioners will groom up to meet their new lady colleague with Bulgarian name - Meglena Kuneva. File photo by Kameliya Atanasova (Sofia Photo Agency)
Just in a couple of months the predominantly male "board" of EU commissioners will groom up to meet their new lady colleague with Bulgarian name - Meglena Kuneva. If anyone claims that a woman cannot make a successful politician, the newcomer Bulgaria certainly offers evidence of the opposite.
By Ivelina Puhaleva
The political career of Meglena Kuneva has gone well beyond national boundaries. Behind the elegant and fragile looks of the future EU Commissioner for consumers there is the positively stubborn and extremely optimistic personality of an ordinary person.
The Family
Daughter of renowned Bulgarian musician, Meglena Kuneva married to financier Andrey Prumov, whose family has had a long history of active political participation. They have a son, who has managed to stay out of public limelight despite the hard work of his mother.
A Catholic after her mother, Meglena Kuneva has spoken with deep emotion and awe for her meeting with late Pope John Paul II during his visit to Bulgaria in 2002.
The Lawyer
After graduation at the Law Faculty of St Kliment Ohridsky University it took her only three years to obtain a doctor's degree in environmental law. When coming back to the university, she had already started earning her public rating.
The Radio Anchor
While teaching Sofia students the basics of law, Meglena Kuneva hosted her own radio broadcast at the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). Her gentle voice and expertise tone worked for a really loyal audience when Bulgaria was just getting ready for democracy lesson.
The Reader
Once she leaves the political rostrum and duties are put on the shelf, Meglena Kuneva returns to her favorite leisure activity - reading. Political novels, modern classics and Bulgarian poetry can make the whole of her free time.
The Politician
Kuneva's first steps in politics were made at the corridors of the Council of Ministers 1990-2001 when she worked as senior legal adviser. The entry into the 39th National Assembly in June 2001 was letting the door open for her entry into the cabinet of Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
Since then, she has certainly written down history by surviving three cabinets and two prime ministers. "I have never considered the Euro-integration as belonging to a certain political party and I have always stressed on continuity," she often said.
The Negotiator
The hard work of leading the EU negotiations for Bulgarian accession and speaking out incessantly about the pros and cons of each arrangement has certainly paid off when the country managed to close all 30 EU chapters long before deadline, in the summer of 2004.
"I saw my office as a job I had to do the best way possible. It was interesting, I learned a lot and I am grateful that I could be part of one of the most important events of modern Bulgarian history - the EU accession."
She has remained optimistic about Bulgaria's accession to the European Union on January 1, 2007, even when the harshest criticisms were coming down from Brussels.
Youth Face
Meglena Kuneva has been extremely popular among young people. Her face and presence flagged hundreds of campaigns and promotional events - all subject to the idea of bringing the EU closer to every Bulgarian home. "Be yourselves! And you will succeed!" she kept on telling young collocutors.
The Commissioner
Once being approved and sworn in as EU commissioner, Meglena Kuneva will have to forget what Bulgarian national interests are. The millions of European consumers will look at her with anticipation, demands and advices how to defend their rights.
The Brussels job will certainly seat her on scales with more than two balancing parts and she will need all the courage, understanding and personal merits to do it right.
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