Meglena Kunewa

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Meglena Kunewa (2014)

Meglena Schtilijanowa Kunewa ( Bulgarian Меглена Щилиянова Кунева ; born June 22, 1957 in Sofia ) is a Bulgarian politician ( NDSW ; movement "Bulgaria the Citizens"). She was from 2007 to 2010 EU - Commissioner for Consumer Protection and 2014-2017 Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

Academic career

Kunewa graduated from Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia in 1981 with a law degree . 1984 followed a doctorate in the field of environmental law .

From 1987 to 1991 she worked as an editor and presenter for the Bulgarian National Radio . From 1990 to 2001 she served as the principal legal advisor to the government, drafting legislation, particularly in the areas of the environment and access to information. After an assistant professorship in 1988/89, she taught from 1992 to 1994 at the Free University of Burgas and at the New Bulgarian University . At the same time she continued her education at the Åbo Akademi in Turku (Institute for Human Rights, 1993), Georgetown University in Washington DC (International Relations, 1995, and Environmental Law, 1999–2000) and the University of Oxford (Environmental Law, 1996).

Political career

Meglena Kunewa is a member of the liberal party National Movement Simeon the Second, from 2009 the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NDSW). In June 2001 she became a member of the Bulgarian People's Assembly. In August of the same year she was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister; In this function, she played a key role in Bulgaria's accession negotiations with the European Union . In May 2002 she was appointed Minister for Europe. Next to Meglena Iwanowa Plugtschiewa-Alexandrowa, the Bulgarian ambassador in Berlin , Kunewa was the diplomatically most successful propagandist for Bulgaria's accession to the EU.

On October 26, 2006, she was nominated for the post of EU Commissioner for Food Safety , which was created in the course of Bulgaria's accession to the EU . On December 12th, the European Parliament approved . Meglena Kunewa was able to take over the office when her country joined the EU on January 1, 2007. In the European elections in 2009 she ran as the top candidate of the NDSW and was elected to the European Parliament; however, she decided to keep her post as Commissioner. Stanimir Iltschew took her place in parliament . She was no longer a member of the Barroso II EU Commission, which was in office from 2010 .

Instead, in 2011 she founded the political movement “Bulgaria of Citizens”, which represents liberal and pro-European positions. At times, polls forecast this to be 5 to 6%, but in the 2013 parliamentary election it failed with 3.25% because of the parliamentary entry hurdle. In the run-up to the European elections in May 2014 , “Bulgaria der Bürger” formed the reform bloc electoral alliance with other pro-European parties from the center-right spectrum . Kunewa was its top candidate. Although the reform bloc won a seat in the European Parliament, Svetoslaw Malinow received more preferential votes from the DSB than Kunewa, so that it did not move into the European Parliament.

In the early elections to the Bulgarian parliament in October 2014 , however, Kunewa was elected to the National Assembly as the representative of the reform bloc (which totaled 8.9%) . In the coalition government subsequently formed from GERB , reform bloc and ABW under the leadership of Prime Minister Boyko Borissow , Kunewa was Deputy Prime Minister and European Minister. After the resignation of Education and Science Minister Todor Tanew , she also took over his department. In the 2017 parliamentary election , the reform bloc, and with it Kunewa, failed to re-enter the National Assembly. She passed the chairmanship of the “Bulgaria of Citizens” movement to Dimitar Deltschew.

Honors

In 2004 Jacques Chirac awarded Meglena Kunewa the Order of the Legion of Honor . She is also the holder of the Order of Civil Merit of the Kingdom of Spain and the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique of the Republic of Portugal (2002).

Private

Meglena Kunewa is the daughter of the musician and film actor Stilian Kunew, who as a student spent several years with his father in the Belene labor camp for anti-communist activities . Kuneva later married Andrei Pramov. He is the son of Ivan Pramov, who was secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1962 to 1978. The two have a son.

Web links

Commons : Meglena Kunewa  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c President Barroso introduces the Bulgarian Commissioner-designate. European Commission, October 26, 2006.
  2. a b Kuneva - The Charming Workaholic , Die Welt, November 27, 2006.
  3. Marco Arndt: Gerb wins European elections in Bulgaria. KAS country reports, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, May 25, 2014.
  4. ^ Regine Schubert: Bulgaria. Bad performance by right-wing extremists. In: Europe voted. Friedrich Ebert Foundation, June 2014, p. 13.