Oana-Cristina Popa
European Union
Oana-Cristina Popa is currently serving as EU Ambassador to Montenegro since September 1, 2020. Between 2016-2020 she served as Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Serbia. Between 2005-2009 she was the Ambassador of Romania to Croatia. Before that she was Deputy Head of Mission to the Embassy of Romania in Zagreb, head of the North America division in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and adviser to the Minister on Euro-Atlantic affairs. Oana-Cristina Popa was decorated by the Romanian President with the National Order of Merit in the rank of Knight and with The First-Class Diplomatic Medal for merits in diplomacy.
Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2002, Oana-Cristina Popa was Executive Director of the Romanian-American Fulbright Commission between 1998-2002. As a reward for her activity she received the Certificate of Appreciation from the US State Department for special merits in promoting the Romanian-American bilateral relations. In addition to her diplomatic activity, Oana-Cristina Popa was a postdoctoral fellow of the Romanian Academy within the European Program of Socio-Human Sciences between 2011-2012, where she conducted a study of the history of peace negotiations after 1990 in the Balkans.
”Whoever is afraid of feminism, is afraid to admit and accept that, fundamentally, women are strong beings. In various societies, over centuries, political leaders have made use of many skills and tricks to keep women power under control. On the other hand, power comes with responsibility – always. Admitting that you are strong means taking responsibility for this power. Sometimes that overwhelms.”
