The Cinderella spitzenkandidaten

Politico says the next European Commission president must meet an impressive list of qualifications to be in the running for elections. As the title of the article suggests, the requirements for the top candidate may even rival fairy tale expectations. Politico reels off some qualities under scrutiny: prior experience in leadership, party affiliation, language ability, age, and geographic balance with other top European Union posts. In a round-up piece about the possible candidates, Politico features among others one of Furman’s most notable graduates, Alexander Stubb ’93.

The political science graduate and former prime minister of Finland is now a vice president of European Investment Bank, and previously served as finance minister, trade minister, Europe minister and foreign minister, as well as a member of the Finnish Parliament and of the European Parliament. He speaks five languages, has degrees from the College of Europe, the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics, and has written several books.