New Face in Brussels

Kuneva strongly believes that it's time Bulgarians gained a bit more self-confidence -- and is confident they're on the right path.

"I think the desire to be better is there," the 49-year-old said. "We are dreaming of a better life and this is a great vehicle for trying to be better and better every single day. It's for the benefit of the next generation -- I don't believe that people in the middle of their lives will harvest the fruits."

After four years as minister for European affairs, Kuneva is now headed for Brussels as her country's first-ever EU commissioner.

An international résumé

She studied law and spent time in the US, Finland and Britain before returning to Sofia. In May 2002 she was appointed Bulgaria's first minister of European affairs in the government of former Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg -- a job she held even after the 2005 parliamentary elections, when her party became a junior partner in the Bulgarian Socialist Party-dominated coalition government of Sergey Stanishev.

But despite the demands of her career, Meglena Kuneva's family -- her husband and son -- comes first. Encouraging the younger generation is one of her top priorities, and she pins her hopes for her country on its younger generation.

"They know just as much as students in the rest of Europe…they are curious and they have a strong sense of freedom and liberty," she said. "If you compare this generation with the pre-1990s one, the difference is dramatic. You can see the horizon."

A pivotal role

Being able to see the horizon is a welcome change in a country described not long ago by the EU as a hotbed of corruption, contract killers and money laundering. Meglena Kuneva has been personally committed to getting a green light from Brussels for Bulgaria's EU accession on Jan. 1, 2007, and flushing out the old guard was a crucial step on this path.

"Those of them who brought the country to this very unfortunate stage in the early 1990s have been outcast from public opinion and never regained the confidence of the public," she said.

In future, Meglena Kuneva hopes more well-qualified young politicians will be appointed to positions of responsibility. One potential problem is the ongoing brain drain, with many of the younger generation lured by high salaries and opportunities abroad.

"I think we could manage to keep our best people at home if they knew they could come and go," she said. "I don't believe we can keep them with restrictions. It wouldn't be fair."

Instead, she hopes that EU schemes such as "Erasmus" will give young people a chance to spread their wings a little before returning home. But when she gets to Brussels next year, Meglena Kuneva will be in charge not of education but consumer protection -- a topic at the heart of public debate since bird flu and meat scandals began hitting the headlines.