C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 001518

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2016
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL EUN BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA NAMES POPULAR, PRO-U.S. MINISTER AS EU
COMMISSIONER

Classified By: Ambassador John Beyrle for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The government on October 26 nominated
European Affairs Minister Meglena Kuneva to serve as
Bulgaria's first EU Commissioner. EC President Jose Manuel
Barroso welcomed the nomination and assigned Kuneva the
consumer protection portfolio. One of Bulgaria's most
respected political figures, Kuneva is widely credited for
her efforts to push forward and finalize the difficult
negotiations for Bulgaria's timely EU accession. A
U.S.-trained lawyer and strong Atlanticist, Kuneva is the
only member of ex-PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha's cabinet to
retain her post in the current Socialist-led government.
Socialist PM Sergei Stanishev named her despite strong
pressure from his party to choose a BSP stalwart for the
post. Largely seen as Brussels's favored choice for a
Bulgarian nominee, Kuneva is expected to be easily approved
by the European Parliament later this year. She will
reportedly take UK Ambassador to Bulgaria Jeremy Hill to
Brussels as her chef du cabinet. END SUMMARY


RESPECTED POLITICAL FIGURE
--------------


2. (C) Soft-spoken and media-friendly, Kuneva, 49, has been
one of the country's most popular political figures since she
joined politics in 2001 as a member of ex-PM Simeon
Saxe-Coburg's party. A lawyer and former university
lecturer, Kuneva has led Bulgaria's EU entry talks since
August 2001, when she was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister
and Chief Negotiator with the EU. She became Bulgaria's
first European Affairs Minister in May 2002 when the
government upgraded the chief negotiator,s position. More
technocrat than politician, Kuneva was not considered a
political heavy weight. Defying early expectations, she
built national consensus regarding the EU, promoting public
awareness of EU accession and pushing EU-related reforms.
Politicians accross the spectrum acknowledge her expertise in
European affairs and her success in finalizing Bulgaria's

negotiations with the EU six months ahead of schedule.


3. (SBU) Given Kuneva's popularity and non-political
background, it was no surprise when she became the only
minister from Simeon's cabinet to retain her post when the
Socialist-led government of PM Stanishev took over in August

2005. Kuneva enjoys an untainted reputation for high
integrity and over the past five years has regularly ranked
among the government ministers with highest approval ratings.
Kuneva clearly is equally well-respected in Brussels, where
she is widely perceived as Bulgaria's European face. Some
critics at home, however, have said that in order to please
her EC colleagues, she has acted sometimes as Brussels'
representative to Sofia, rather than the other way around.

POLITICAL HURDLES AT HOME
--------------


4. (C) Despite her popularity, Kuneva's nomination was not an
easy decision for PM Stanishev, who had been under strong
pressure from his Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to name a
Socialist candidate for the key post. An influential
Socialist group, led by Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin,
openly objected to Kuneva's nomination, lobbying for Sofia's
Ambassador to Paris Irina Bokova instead. A respected career
diplomat but with little direct EU-related experience, Bokova
is the sister of Philip Bokov, PM's Stanishev's chief of
staff. After months of horse trading among coalition
partners, Stanishev opted against his party's will and
endorsed Kuneva, a decision which insiders say was aimed to
secure the loyalty of Simeon,s party as a coalition partner
and please Brussels, whose support Kuneva enjoys. In a
discussion with the Ambassador several weeks ago, an
exhausted Kuneva was uncertain of her future and probed for
U.S. support of her candidacy. The pendulum swung back in
her favor, we suspect, as the Prime Minister looked at the
larger strategic picture.

WARM WELCOME IN BRUSSELS
--------------

5. (C) EC President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed Kuneva's
nomination and said she would be assigned the consumer
protection portfolio, which previously fell within the
purview of EU Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.
"I am convinced that Ms Kuneva has the professional and
political qualities, as well as the personal commitment and
necessary experience to accomplish all the tasks which I am
proposing to make her responsible for," said Barrosso.
Kuneva, along with Romania's nominee, will face hearings next
month before the European Parliament, which will vote on
their nominations at a December 11-15 plenary session.

SOFIA 00001518 002 OF 002


Kuneva was appointed as a counselor to the EC, a move aimed
to ease the transition by increasing cooperation between the
commissioner-nominees and the EC and EP. The EU DCM here
(protect) told us that the Bulgarians had played their cards
exceedingly well, landing a weighty portfolio.

IMPRESSIVE CV
--------------

6. (U) Kuneva was born on June 22, 1957 in Sofia. She
earned a Master's degree in law from the Sofia University St
Kliment Ohridski in 1981, and was awarded a PhD in Law in

1984. She specialized in Human Rights Law at the Human
Rights Institute, Turku, Finland, in 1993, and Environmental
Law at Oxford, UK, in 1996. In 1999-2000, Kuneva specialized
in law at Georgetown University. Kuneva served as assistant
professor of Civil Law at Sofia University from 1988 to 1989,
and as a lecturer at the Free University of Burgas and the
New Bulgarian University, 1992-1994. She worked as a legal
advisor at the Council of Ministers' Legal Department from
1991 until 2001, during which period she participated in the
drafting of a series of Bulgarian laws on environment, access
to information, etc. In June 2001, Kuneva was elected MP on
the ticket of the National Movement for Simeon II. She was
appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief
Negotiator with the EU in August 2001. In May 2002, Kuneva
was appointed Minister of European Affairs, and a
representative of the Bulgarian government at the Convention
for the Future of Europe. Kuneva is fluent in English,
French, and Russian. She is married to a respected financier
and has a son.


7. (C) COMMENT: The nomination of Kuneva as Sofia's European
Commissioner is a smart move by the Bulgarian government
which will smooth Bulgaria's start-up year. Although
resisted by the BSP rank-and-file, Kuneva's nomination is not
expected to undermine PM Stanishev's leadership or cause
major tremors in his ruling party. By endorsing Kuneva, the
PM has maintained balance in the ruling three-party coalition
and either paid-off or earned a debt from ex-King Simeon's
party. Kuneva's "can do" spirit and deep affinity for
Americans and the U.S. (she gets misty-eyed recalling her
"fantastic" years at Georgetown) will win us at least one
ally on the Commission. Her rumored chef du cabinet, UK
Ambassador Jeremy Hill, is well and favorably known in Sofia.
If Hill does go, Brussels can expect a smart and collegial
interlocutor who knows the EU from his previous posting there
as a Counselor for Legal, Justice and Home Affairs. END
COMMENT
BEYRLE