Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10SOFIA54
2010-01-21 15:10:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Sofia
Cable title:
BULGARIA'S NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER NOMINEE
how-toVZCZCXRO4102 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR DE RUEHSF #0054 0211510 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 211510Z JAN 10 FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6660 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000054
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020
TAGS: PGOV EFIN ECON PREL BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA'S NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER NOMINEE
Classified By: DCM Susan Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000054
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020
TAGS: PGOV EFIN ECON PREL BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA'S NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER NOMINEE
Classified By: DCM Susan Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (SBU) Prime Minister Boyko Borissov named Kristalina
Georgieva as Bulgaria's candidate for European Commissioner
following the withdrawal of former Foreign Minister Rumiana
Jeleva as Commissioner-designate on January 19. Georgieva's
Development Committee hearing will take place on February 3
and the European Parliament (EP) will vote on February 9.
Our Sofia-based contacts tell us that European Commission
President Manuel Barroso does not plan to change the
portfolio for the new Bulgarian commissioner-designate, which
includes International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and
Crisis Response. Georgieva says she is confident she will be
ready for her hearing given her experience in social
development and crisis management.
2. (SBU) Georgieva, 56, became Vice President and Corporate
Secretary of the World Bank in 2008. She is the first and
only Bulgarian at such a senior position in the organization.
In this position, she facilitated cooperation and strategic
dialog between the Bank's Boards of Directors and its senior
management. With the World Bank since 1993, Georgieva has
held a number of technical and managerial positions in bank
operations and was a leading voice on environmental and
sustainable development issues. Prior to joining the World
Bank, she held a range of academic and consulting positions
in Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She
has lectured on economic development topics at MIT, Harvard,
and other universities around the world. She is the author
of one of the most popular Bulgarian-language textbooks on
microeconomics and receives rave reviews from her former
students.
3. (C) Comment: Georgieva was Borissov's ace in the hole.
Borissov had been trying to lure the World Bank executive
into his cabinet ever since he swept into power in July 2009,
so Georgieva's decision to finally join the GERB team is a
win for Brussels, Bulgaria, and Borissov himself. But with
Georgieva in Brussels, Borissov's trump card has been played.
Now he has few (if any) additional cadre who are ready for
the big time in case of needed future cabinet changes at
home.
WARLICK
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020
TAGS: PGOV EFIN ECON PREL BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIA'S NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER NOMINEE
Classified By: DCM Susan Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (SBU) Prime Minister Boyko Borissov named Kristalina
Georgieva as Bulgaria's candidate for European Commissioner
following the withdrawal of former Foreign Minister Rumiana
Jeleva as Commissioner-designate on January 19. Georgieva's
Development Committee hearing will take place on February 3
and the European Parliament (EP) will vote on February 9.
Our Sofia-based contacts tell us that European Commission
President Manuel Barroso does not plan to change the
portfolio for the new Bulgarian commissioner-designate, which
includes International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and
Crisis Response. Georgieva says she is confident she will be
ready for her hearing given her experience in social
development and crisis management.
2. (SBU) Georgieva, 56, became Vice President and Corporate
Secretary of the World Bank in 2008. She is the first and
only Bulgarian at such a senior position in the organization.
In this position, she facilitated cooperation and strategic
dialog between the Bank's Boards of Directors and its senior
management. With the World Bank since 1993, Georgieva has
held a number of technical and managerial positions in bank
operations and was a leading voice on environmental and
sustainable development issues. Prior to joining the World
Bank, she held a range of academic and consulting positions
in Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She
has lectured on economic development topics at MIT, Harvard,
and other universities around the world. She is the author
of one of the most popular Bulgarian-language textbooks on
microeconomics and receives rave reviews from her former
students.
3. (C) Comment: Georgieva was Borissov's ace in the hole.
Borissov had been trying to lure the World Bank executive
into his cabinet ever since he swept into power in July 2009,
so Georgieva's decision to finally join the GERB team is a
win for Brussels, Bulgaria, and Borissov himself. But with
Georgieva in Brussels, Borissov's trump card has been played.
Now he has few (if any) additional cadre who are ready for
the big time in case of needed future cabinet changes at
home.
WARLICK