Ana Birchall facts for kids
Ana Birchall, born Ana Călin on August 30, 1973, is a Romanian lawyer and politician. She has been a representative for Vaslui County in the Romanian Parliament since 2012, as part of the Social Democratic Party. She has held important roles in the government, including representing the Prime Minister for European affairs and relations with the United States. She also served as the Minister of Justice. Between 2019 and 2019, Ana Birchall was the Deputy Prime Minister, focusing on Romania's important partnerships with other countries.
In November 2019, she was no longer a member of the Social Democratic Party and left her role as Minister of Justice.
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Ana Birchall's Journey
Ana Birchall was born in Mizil, Romania, and grew up in Fulga, Prahova County.
Education and Early Career
She studied law and earned her first degree. Then, she went to Yale Law School in the United States. There, she earned a master's degree, specializing in laws about companies that are having financial trouble and international financial laws. She graduated from Yale with high honors.
Birchall continued her studies at Yale Law, earning her doctorate degree. Her research compared laws about financial difficulties in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
After her studies, Birchall worked as a lawyer on Wall Street in New York City. She worked for a law firm called White & Case. She helped big companies like ENRON and United Airlines with their legal needs.
Returning to Romania and Politics
In 2003, Ana Birchall decided to return to Romania. She wanted to work in politics. She started her career within the Social Democratic Party. She advised the Minister of External Affairs and later led different departments within the party, focusing on equal opportunities, education, and research. She also served as a spokesperson for the party in Bucharest.
Birchall also continued her work as a lawyer in Bucharest, staying connected with White & Case LLP.
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In 1998, Birchall married Martyn Birchall, a British businessman. They have a son named Andrew, who was born in 2001. The family lives in Bucharest.
Key Government Roles
In January 2017, Birchall became the Minister for Europe. In 2019, she helped prepare Romania for its turn to lead the EU Council. After public protests in early 2017, she was appointed Interim Minister of Justice. She worked to improve public trust in the justice system.
In January 2018, Birchall became Deputy Prime Minister. In this role, she was in charge of Romania's important partnerships with other countries. She helped strengthen relationships with several nations. From April 2019, she again served as Interim Minister of Justice. She then became the full Minister of Justice in May 2019. She worked to advance important changes in the justice system.
In 2020, she helped create new laws. These laws made it easier to get back money and property that people had gained through illegal activities.
As of December 2023, she holds a special role at Nuclearelectrica. This is Romania's company for nuclear power energy. She works as the Special Envoy for Strategic and International Affairs.
Facing False Accusations
Ana Birchall has faced challenges during her career. In 2008, a false legal document was filed in her name. She quickly proved that the document was not hers and that her signature was faked. She believed that political rivals were trying to harm her reputation before elections.
Later in 2008, during an election campaign, a video was released online. It claimed to show a woman who looked like Birchall in private moments. Birchall strongly denied these claims. A special expert confirmed that the person in the video was not her. A magazine that had reported on the story later apologized to Birchall and her family.
Birchall took legal action against those who spread the false video. She said it was part of a plan to damage her political career. The court ruled in her favor, confirming that the accusations were false.
