A tale of three nationalities

The European Commission announced last week that Androulla Kaminara is to be the head of the Commission's representation in Cyprus. So is Cyprus to be one of those few places (like London) where the head of representation has a nationality other than that of the host country? Well, it depends how you look at it. Kaminara has been in the Commission since 1991, long before Cyprus and its beaches became part of the EU. As well as being born in Cyprus, she has British and Greek nationality and she joined the Commission as a Briton. She worked in the cabinet of Christos Papoutsis, Greece's European Commissioner back in 1998-99, and then Poul Nielson in 1999-2003. She spent three years (2003-06) as a head of unit in the Commission's EuropeAid office, then the Cypriot nationality came in useful as she was appointed to a director's post reserved for candidates from the new member states. What good is the Greek nationality? It probably helps that one of her three nationalities can give her a Schengen-zone passport.