Meglena Kuneva
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| Meglena Kuneva | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 January 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Markos Kyprianou |
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| Born | June 22, 1957  Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Political party | Nacionalno dviženie za stabilnost i vǎzhod (ELDR) |
| Profession | politician |
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva (Bulgarian: Меглена Щилянова Кунева) (born 22 June 1957) is a Bulgarian and EU politician.
Born in Sofia, Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia University. In 1990 she took a job as Senior Legal Advisor at the Council of Ministers and held it until 2001. In the meantime Kuneva specialized in Foreign Affairs and Environmental Law at Georgetown University and other universities abroad.
In June 2001 she was elected a deputy (Member of Bulgarian Parliament) as a founding member of the Liberal Simeon II National Movement (NDSV) party. In August 2001 Kuneva left her position in the Bulgarian parliament because she was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Bulgaria with the European Union. She represented the Bulgarian Government in the Convention on the Future of Europe (the European Convention), which designed the EU Constitutional Treaty (the European Constitution).
In May 2002 she was appointed Bulgaria's first Minister of European Affairs in the government of former Tsar Simeon Sakskoburggotski. She held that job even after the 2005 parliamentary elections, when NDSV became a junior partner in the Bulgarian Socialist Party-dominated coalition government of Sergey Stanishev — the only minister of the former cabinet to retain her post.
On 26 October 2006 Kuneva was nominated to be Bulgaria's first member of the European Commission. European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso assigned her the portfolio of Consumer Protection.[1] Kuneva was decisively approved by the European Parliament on 12 December 2006 with 583 votes "in favour", 21 votes "against" and 28 votes "abstentions". She commenced her mandate as EU Commissioner on 1 January 2007, when Bulgaria officially joined the EU. On 22 January 2007 Meglena Kuneva took an Oath as a European Commissioner at the European Court in Luxembourg. One of her first acts as a European Commissioner was to criticize the iPod and its effects on the youth in Bulgaria.[citation needed]
Meglena Kuneva is married to financier Andrey Pramov and has one son - Aleksandar. She is fluent in English, French and Russian in addition to her native Bulgarian. An avid reader and supporter of literature, she has been chosen to be a member of the jury for the Vick Foundation for the selection of the 2008 Bulgaria Novel of the Year[1].
[edit] See also
- European Commission
- Barroso Commission
- Bulgarian membership of the European Union
- Government of Bulgaria
[edit] References
- ^ European Commission press release: President Barroso presents the Commissioner designate for Bulgaria (2006-10-26; reference IP/06/1485)
[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Markos Kyprianou |
European Commissioner for Consumer Protection 2007–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by New title |
Bulgarian European Commissioner 2007–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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