Once considered almost unthinkable, diplomacy today is equally open for men and women. A prominent example of this is the Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro, Oana Cristina Popa, who has acquired extensive diplomatic experience since she joined the Romanian diplomatic service in 2002. Prior to Montenegro, she was Romania’s ambassador to Croatia and Serbia respectively. Stana Tomašević Arnesen, the first female ambassador of Yugoslavia, paved the way for her and women like her. Before the Second World War, Stana was a teacher in a small village near Pljevlja. She was the first female commissioner and then member of the Federal Assembly, only to become the first woman in Yugoslav diplomacy later.
“There is this paradox in Montenegro that women are outnumbered by men in managerial positions despite the fact that they represent half of the population. This is not a fight between men and women at all. We do not want a society in which men are marginalised. On the contrary, men should be our partners. We want women to be represented at 50:50% – we do not want 100%. There are multiple factors, including cultural, social and economic, and they all play a very important role. Women’s empowerment and freedom are needed to achieve equality,” said Ambassador Popa.
Dr Oana Cristina Popa has been the EU Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro since 1 September 2020. Prior to her career as Ambassador, she was the Head of the North America Department at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Euro-Atlantic Affairs. She holds a PhD in history and international relations, a master’s degree in international peace studies and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and education.
Ambassador Popa was one of the speakers at our panel discussion entitled ‘Examples of SHEvalry and SHEroism’, which we organised as part of the campaign of the same name.