They are magistrate, commissioner, deputy, mayor…
On the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, we shine a spotlight on ten committed European women who are fighting daily to make an impact on the European and international diplomatic scene, battling against corruption, advocating for the right to abortion, and welcoming refugees.
Manuela Carmena (Spain) – Mayor of Madrid
Manuela Carmena is a 73-year-old Spanish politician. Initially a lawyer and then a judge at the Supreme Court of Spain, this former communist party activist under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship became the mayor of Madrid in 2015. Emerging from the Indignant movement, Manuela Carmena aims to return power to the people and initiate a citizen revolution in Madrid, which had been a right-wing stronghold for 25 years.
Codruta Kövesi (Romania) – Magistrate
Codruta Kövesi has been the chief prosecutor of Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) since 2013. Known as the “admired by Romanians,” she has gained recognition by enabling the DNA to make significant advancements in combating high-level corruption, notably prosecuting mayors, parliamentarians, ministers, and even the former Prime Minister Victor Ponta while in office.
Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Franco-Turkish) – Director
Deniz Gamze Ergüven was born in Turkey but grew up between France, Turkey, and the United States. She earned a master’s degree in history in Johannesburg and then attended La Femis in Paris, graduating in 2006 with a degree in directing. In 2014, she co-wrote and directed “Mustang” with Alice Winocour. The film tells the story of five Turkish sisters who, driven by the same desire for freedom, attempt to escape the constraints imposed by traditional society. Among many awards, “Mustang” received the Lux Prize in 2015, awarded by the European Parliament.
Konstantina Kouneva (Greece) – European Deputy
With a background in ethnology, she was forced to leave her native country, Bulgaria, in 2001 due to her son’s illness, which she could not treat adequately there. During her son’s recovery in Greece, she took on various subsistence jobs. Working as a cleaner in the Athens metro, she became a union representative and continually exposed the working conditions of the cleaning company that employed her. Threatened multiple times, an individual burned her face with acid in 2008, leaving her disfigured and blind. Her union struggle led her to become a European deputy for the radical left party Syriza in 2014.
Ursula von der Leyen (Germany) – Defense Minister
A German politician from the CDU (center-right), she was appointed Minister of Family Affairs in Angela Merkel’s government in 2005. She pursued policies contrary to her party’s stance, supporting the development of nurseries and establishing a parental wage, allowing any parent, including fathers, who stop working to care for their child to receive assistance of up to 1,800 euros. From 2009 to 2013, she served as Minister of Labor, and in December 2013, she became the first woman to hold the position of Defense Minister.
Federica Mogherini (Italy) – High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of European Diplomacy
Federica Mogherini was born in 1973. After studying political science at La Sapienza University in Rome, she specialized in political philosophy, notably during an Erasmus exchange year in Aix-en-Provence. Initially joining the youth of the Communist Party, she later worked in the leadership of the Left Democrats Party before being elected as a deputy for Veneto in 2008, and reelected in Emilia-Romagna in 2013. In February 2014, she became Minister of Foreign Affairs in Matteo Renzi’s government, and in November of the same year, she was appointed vice-president of the European Commission and High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
Giusi Nicolini (Italy) – Mayor of Lampedusa
At 56 years old, Giusi Nicolini is an Italian politician and mayor of the city of Lampedusa, located on the island of the same name off the coast of Tunisia, since 2012. Dubbed “the lioness of Lampedusa,” she tirelessly works to welcome migrant flows with dignity on the island. Former deputy mayor of Lampedusa at 23, she refused ministerial positions and the mandate of an MEP to continue defending the islands of Lampedusa and Linosa. She denounces the hypocrisy of European migration policies “more focused on protecting borders than on building a united and humane common project.” Her struggle was recognized with the Simone de Beauvoir Prize in 2016.
Barbara Nowacka (Poland) – Simone de Beauvoir Prize 2017
At 41, Barbara Nowacka is a Polish politician. This icon of the feminist cause followed in the footsteps of her mother, a former Secretary of State for Gender Equality, by advocating for women’s rights. A professor at the University of Warsaw, she became known outside her country by organizing the “black march” in October 2016 to successfully oppose an ultra-conservative bill aimed at completely banning abortion. The bill proposed prison sentences for doctors performing abortions and the patients themselves. In 2017, her efforts were recognized with the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women’s Freedom on behalf of the “Save the Women” association.
Emily O’Reilly (Ireland) – European Ombudsperson
A former political journalist, Emily O’Reilly was the Ombudsman of the Republic of Ireland from 2003 to 2007 (similar to the Defender of Rights in France), and then Commissioner for Environmental Information from 2007 until her appointment as the European Ombudsperson in 2013. On February 28, 2017, she launched an inquiry into how the European Commission responded to a letter sent by EU employees regarding José Manuel Barroso’s position with Goldman Sachs.
Margrethe Vestager (Denmark) – European Competition Commissioner
A political figure from the Danish Social Liberal Party (RV), Margrethe Vestager held the positions of Minister of Education from 1998 to 2001 and Economics from 2011 to 2014. Appointed as European Competition Commissioner in 2014, she ordered the American giant Apple to repay Ireland 13 billion euros in illegal tax advantages. Considered by the foreign press as the most influential woman in the European Commission, she was named Woman of the Year by the Financial Times in 2016.
