Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SKOPJE16
2007-01-10 13:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:
MACEDONIA: FIVE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
how-toVZCZCXRO4334 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSQ #0016/01 0101333 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 101333Z JAN 07 ZDK FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5575 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000016
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WE - SASHA MEHRA AND GERDA LANE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: FIVE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
REF: 06 STATE 202341
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000016
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WE - SASHA MEHRA AND GERDA LANE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: FIVE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
REF: 06 STATE 202341
1. This is Embassy Skopje's response to reftel regarding the
five most influential women in Macedonia. PolOff Mariana
Neisuler is Post's officer responsible for tracking women's
issues.
Tel: 389 2 3116 180 ext. 2111
Fax: 389 2 3133 601
Mobile: 389 70 306 024
Email: NeisulerML@state.gov
2. Post has identified the following five Macedonian women of
different ethnic backgrounds as the most influential in the
country.
-------------- -
Gabriela Konevska Trajkovska (age 35)
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration
-------------- -
Contact Information: Macedonian Government, Ilinden bb, 1000
Skopje, Tel: 389 2 3113 245
As Deputy PM for European Integration, Konevska is
responsible for coordinating the Macedonian government's
efforts to join the EU. She is also the government's primary
foreign assistance coordinator. A former journalist and
lawyer, Konevska served from 2000-2004 as the director of the
Regional Center for Fighting against Organized Crime, located
in Bucharest, and as the chief of the international mission
in Romania under the Southeast European Cooperative
Initiative (SECI). She also served as the personal political
advisor to the SECI coordinator, and as president of the NGO
Transparency Macedonia. She is fluent in English, French and
Romanian, and has a basic knowledge of German and Greek.
-------------- --------------
Radmila Sekerinska (age 34)
President of Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM)
-------------- --------------
Contact Information: Bihacka 8, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 2 3293
101
An engineer by training, Sekerinska previously served as
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and
Coordination of Foreign Assistance in the SDSM-led government
from 2002-2006. She has been prominent in politics since
1998, when she was elected an SDSM Member of Parliament and
served as the SDSM Spokesperson. Sekerinska was elected in
November 2006 as the leader of SDSM, the largest ethnic
Macedonian opposition party, and remains an MP. She speaks
fluent English and some French.
-------------- --------------
Teuta Arifi (age 37)
Vice President of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
-------------- --------------
Contact Information: DUI MPs, Macedonian National Assembly,
11 Oktomvri bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 70 383 907
As an MP and Vice President of the largest ethnic Albanian
party in Macedonia, Arifi wields more political power than
any other ethnic Albanian woman in the country. An academic
with a BA in Albanian Literature and a PhD in Philosophy,
Arifi entered the political scene in 2001 as a member of
DUI's "intellectuals wing." She is a prominent academic and
currently serves as the Dean of the Pedagogical Faculty of
the Southeast European University in Tetovo. Arifi is fluent
in English and French.
--------------
Olivera Trajkovska (age 39)
Leading TV personality
--------------
Contact Information: IDEA Plus Ashley & Holmes, III
Makedonska Brigada bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 70 254 840
A psychologist by training, this influential Macedonian
female journalist has worked for various local TV stations
for the last 17 years. Her "Svetla Tochka" (Bright Point)
SKOPJE 00000016 002 OF 002
program has unrivaled viewer ratings. An appearance on her
show is considered a "rite of passage" for those seeking
social or political prominence in Macedonian society.
Trajkovska is considered an insightful journalist, with a
sharp and occasionally provocative interviewing style that
keeps her program at the top of the popular TV ratings.
--------------
Esma Redzepova (age 63)
Leading Roma Singer and Humanitarian
--------------
Contact Information: Samoilova bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 2
3116 113
The so-called "Queen of the Gypsies," Redzepova has performed
since the age of 12 and has promoted Roma culture in
Macedonia through hundreds of popular folk songs and six
feature films. Born to a Turkish Muslim mother and a Serb
father from Albania, Redzepova was discovered by the famous
Roma musician Stevo Teodosievski. Together with
Teodosievski, she has adopted 47 orphans and street children.
She has performed in more than 8,000 concerts in 30
countries, and twice has been nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize.
MILOVANOVIC
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR S/WE - SASHA MEHRA AND GERDA LANE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: FIVE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
REF: 06 STATE 202341
1. This is Embassy Skopje's response to reftel regarding the
five most influential women in Macedonia. PolOff Mariana
Neisuler is Post's officer responsible for tracking women's
issues.
Tel: 389 2 3116 180 ext. 2111
Fax: 389 2 3133 601
Mobile: 389 70 306 024
Email: NeisulerML@state.gov
2. Post has identified the following five Macedonian women of
different ethnic backgrounds as the most influential in the
country.
-------------- -
Gabriela Konevska Trajkovska (age 35)
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration
-------------- -
Contact Information: Macedonian Government, Ilinden bb, 1000
Skopje, Tel: 389 2 3113 245
As Deputy PM for European Integration, Konevska is
responsible for coordinating the Macedonian government's
efforts to join the EU. She is also the government's primary
foreign assistance coordinator. A former journalist and
lawyer, Konevska served from 2000-2004 as the director of the
Regional Center for Fighting against Organized Crime, located
in Bucharest, and as the chief of the international mission
in Romania under the Southeast European Cooperative
Initiative (SECI). She also served as the personal political
advisor to the SECI coordinator, and as president of the NGO
Transparency Macedonia. She is fluent in English, French and
Romanian, and has a basic knowledge of German and Greek.
-------------- --------------
Radmila Sekerinska (age 34)
President of Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM)
-------------- --------------
Contact Information: Bihacka 8, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 2 3293
101
An engineer by training, Sekerinska previously served as
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and
Coordination of Foreign Assistance in the SDSM-led government
from 2002-2006. She has been prominent in politics since
1998, when she was elected an SDSM Member of Parliament and
served as the SDSM Spokesperson. Sekerinska was elected in
November 2006 as the leader of SDSM, the largest ethnic
Macedonian opposition party, and remains an MP. She speaks
fluent English and some French.
-------------- --------------
Teuta Arifi (age 37)
Vice President of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
-------------- --------------
Contact Information: DUI MPs, Macedonian National Assembly,
11 Oktomvri bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 70 383 907
As an MP and Vice President of the largest ethnic Albanian
party in Macedonia, Arifi wields more political power than
any other ethnic Albanian woman in the country. An academic
with a BA in Albanian Literature and a PhD in Philosophy,
Arifi entered the political scene in 2001 as a member of
DUI's "intellectuals wing." She is a prominent academic and
currently serves as the Dean of the Pedagogical Faculty of
the Southeast European University in Tetovo. Arifi is fluent
in English and French.
--------------
Olivera Trajkovska (age 39)
Leading TV personality
--------------
Contact Information: IDEA Plus Ashley & Holmes, III
Makedonska Brigada bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 70 254 840
A psychologist by training, this influential Macedonian
female journalist has worked for various local TV stations
for the last 17 years. Her "Svetla Tochka" (Bright Point)
SKOPJE 00000016 002 OF 002
program has unrivaled viewer ratings. An appearance on her
show is considered a "rite of passage" for those seeking
social or political prominence in Macedonian society.
Trajkovska is considered an insightful journalist, with a
sharp and occasionally provocative interviewing style that
keeps her program at the top of the popular TV ratings.
--------------
Esma Redzepova (age 63)
Leading Roma Singer and Humanitarian
--------------
Contact Information: Samoilova bb, 1000 Skopje, Tel: 389 2
3116 113
The so-called "Queen of the Gypsies," Redzepova has performed
since the age of 12 and has promoted Roma culture in
Macedonia through hundreds of popular folk songs and six
feature films. Born to a Turkish Muslim mother and a Serb
father from Albania, Redzepova was discovered by the famous
Roma musician Stevo Teodosievski. Together with
Teodosievski, she has adopted 47 orphans and street children.
She has performed in more than 8,000 concerts in 30
countries, and twice has been nominated for the Nobel Peace
Prize.
MILOVANOVIC