European Commission Vice-President, Kristalina Georgieva, said she was planning to run for the job of UN Secretary-General. Ban Ki-moon, who is the eight and the current boss of the United Nations, will be leaving office on 31 December 2016. Ms Schinas, spokeswoman for Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, commented that Ms Georgieva and Mr Juncker have already discussed this possibility. Ms Schinas added that “The President has great admiration for the international experience, negotiation skills and tremendous work capacity of Ms Georgieva, who is giving the President invaluable support in managing the European Commission in challenging times.”
The time has come now for Central Europe to take the helm of the world organization and having a female candidate from this part of the world would be more than fitting. However, Ms Georgieva is not the only female candidate from her country. Bulgaria’s Irina Bokova, who currently serves as the head of the United Nations’ largest agency – UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – is the country’s official candidate. Because the Bulgarian government cannot nominate both, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is reluctant to choose a candidate himself. Instead, he relies on the international community to help him out.
When asked on national TV channel whether he would give his full support to Ms Bokova to get the UN top job, Mr Borissov was vague and unclear. Instead, he mentioned her name, replying “she or another” – “for UNESCO, she [Bokova] won. Now for the UN, there is a need that the big countries find consensus that they find a consensual person. It doesn’t depend on us. […] So if she or another can pass this coordination, this would be a big joy for Bulgaria.” Although Bulgaria’s Prime Minister would like to pass on the responsibility of choosing the candidate to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, he will have to eventually make a formal choice in the upcoming spring.
