„What is happening around the world, concerns us, and the more we turn a blind eye to that it concerns us, the more we get encaged in our domestic problems and narrow our horizon, the more inadequate we become in making decisions inside our country. So I would say that whether it is me or someone else - Bulgarians holding high positions connecting us with the world, in fact open a window for our country that helps Bulgaria”. This is what Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview shortly after she took over as Vice-President of the Juncker European Commission and Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources. This is her second term as a European Commissioner from Bulgaria. The first began on 9 February 2010. That same year, on 30 November, she was made Commissioner of the Year and European of the Year in the annual nominations of European Voice as recognition for her work in management of the humanitarian crises in Haiti and Pakistan.

Kristalina Georgieva is an economist and academic, associate professor at the Economics Chair of the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, and has served as World Bank Vice-President. Her nomination for Commissioner by the Bulgarian government took place under extraordinary circumstances - after Rumiana Zheleva, former foreign minister in the first Borissov cabinet, failed at the European Parliament hearing. The portfolio of the Bulgarian commissioner remained, but a new candidate had to be nominated. Later Georgieva said that international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response was a familiar job to her because while on the payroll of the World Bank she had worked closely with the United Nations, the Red Cross and she gladly accepted the invitation of the government. On 3 February 2010 the Committee on Development heard Kristalina Georgieva who demonstrated in-depth knowledge in her portfolio.

“Ladies and gentlemen, members of parliament, I have the honor and privilege to speak to you here today in the capacity of a candidate for commissioner of the new portfolio for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. This is great responsibility because for the world's needy this is the most important office of the Commission. We at the Union admit to a sinister fact - natural disasters have increased in number. This is a way for humanitarian aid and civil protection to be integrated because they go hand in hand. I am told that more than 90 percent of EU citizens want Europe to have stronger readiness for response to crises across the world.”

This is part of a speech of Kristalina Georgieva during her hearing as European Commissioner candidate. The fragment has been translated from a Bulgarian version, the work of a European Parliament translator.

On 9 February 2010 Georgieva took over as European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response in the Barroso Commission, just a month ahead of the earthquake in Haiti. She coordinated EU humanitarian aid and the Bloc emerged as the main donor of the affected country. Another important moment of her term was coordination of European aid in the aftermath of the powerful quake in Chile and during floods in Pakistan. Her work did not boil down to administration alone, but also included trips to places in need of help - to Darfur as she tried to shift more attention to the “forgotten” conflict there, to Kyrgyzstan as a response to a conflict that blew up suddenly, to western Hungary affected by the spill of toxic red mud from a tailing. During her first term she was working for building EU capacity for crisis response, for the creation an European voluntary corps and many other projects.

According to the French Le Monde newspaper, Georgieva is one of the few surprises in the previous line-up of the Commission: „Serving as European Commissioner for humanitarian aid the Bulgarian attained an almost unattainable goal - give a soul to a Europe that has badly needed one in the recent years.”

During her second term, this time in the Juncker Commission, Kristalina Georgieva took over as Vice-President and Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources. In this position she also monitors OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office, payment and recruitment services, and is in charge of 30,000 officials and an annual budget of 140 billion euro. She manages and negotiates the EU budget, provides guarantees that spending is done in an effective and efficient way and protects the budget from fraud and corruption. Her appointment in this office was defined by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev as “a huge success for Bulgaria”. And indeed, this has bene the first time a Bulgarian national has been appointed to serve at such a high position in the European Commission. „I will continue working with all my heart. This is a great joy, the result of five years of work. It is very important for the self-esteem of Bulgarians to promote the awareness that we can stand on an equal footing with the rest of Europe”, Kristalina Georgieva commented her second term as Bulgaria's commissioner in the European Commission.

English Daniela Konstantinova