When the female politicians from our region are asked about their political ideals, the name of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, regularly appears in their responses. And how could it not, when according to Forbes, German Chancellor was named of the most powerful women in the global political arena. And what female politician, especially if they are from a small country at the southeast of Europe, would not want to be “the most powerful woman in the world”?

Perhaps the choice of their role-model is affected by the patriarchal environment in which politicians live, and a good example of this would be the Croatian political stage where only four out of twenty Government members, are females. In order for women to succeed in environment like that, they must take on some male characteristics, and Angela Merkel is the world leader who combines the best of two worlds.

One that can boast of being closest to becoming the Croatian version of Angela Merkel is the Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, who admits that Merkel is her role model. More specifically, Kosor and Merkel are both first female Prime Ministers in their respective countries.

Both inherited the function that was previously occupied by a strong male leader; Merkel replaced Gerhard Schröder, and Kosor stepped in after Ivo Sanader. Both lead the Conservative Party in their countries, both have had the history of being ministers, both have had successful careers ... In either way, their biographies have many parallels and even the data from their private lives matches to some extent.

Merkel shocked the public with her deep cleavage and Kosor with her Cinderella dress

As far as female politicians are concerned, it seems that their looks are always more scrutinized then the looks of their male counterparts; Kosor and Merkel seem to have similar taste in clothes as wells. Classical attire of strict lines is a trademark for both of them. However, the Croatian prime minister prefers more feminine apparel, while her German colleague will not part with her pants. Both, however, occasionally stray into wearing more seductive clothes. Most remember the deep cleavage that Angela Merkel wore in the Norwegian Opera, when her male colleague had difficulty focusing their eyes on chancellor’s face.

Kosor, on the other hand, likes to play with the length of her skirts that sometimes defie the business standards. Clothing combination that most will remember her by is from the Tuesday's meeting with the Slovenian Prime Minister. Croatian prime minister fit the Trakoscan castle perfectly with her fairy dress that seemed more appropriate for a Grimm fairytale than a diplomatic meeting.

Kosor lacks public support and steel attitude

But it is hard to avoid the impression that Kosor needs to do a lot more before she can catch up Angela Merkel.

The first thing that Kosor needs to do is to win the public support. According to the surveys, after the first hundred days in chancellor’s chair, Angela had the highest percentage of public support since 1949.

Kosor, on the other hand, cannot say that she enjoys a great public support, but she also had to make some very tough decisions early in her career. Although Croatia does not carry out surveys like Germany does, members of facebook groups who fiercely attack the prime minister, suggest that lack of such surveys may be a good thing.

Merkel and Kosor seem to leave a different general impression as well. While German Chancellor seems like she is made out of steel and sits on an equal footing with all the international male leaders, Kosor seems slightly more vulnerable. During the ceremony, when she was taking over the office, many were wondering whether her hand will be steady enough to handle the country’s leadership. The media was  later flooded with the stories that she was barely managing to control some of the government members, all of whom were males.

Serbian female politicians also inspired by Angela Merkel

Vice-president of the Government, Djurdja Adlesic, has repeatedly stressed that she admires the work of the German Chancellor. Although she failed to follow her model as closely as Prime Minister Kosor, she managed to show her steel character in dealing with hooligans. As Angela Merkel surprised the public with her deep cleavage, Adlesic’s mini-skirt with sweet colorful pins on the collar of her jacket provoked strong reactions as well.

Angela Merkel is a role-model to Serbian politicians as well, namely Ruzica Djindjic. Wife of the slain Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, is a successful politician and many say that she is very charismatic as well.

- I prefer women who actually perform the functions of responsible statesman, instead of just flaunting the title of a lady. In this context, Angela Merkel impresses me the most. I think that this world would become a better place if more of ‘first ladies’ became ‘the first leaders’ within their communities - President of the ‘Zoran Djindjic Fund’ and a member of the Presidency of the Democratic Party said for the Serbian paper Politika.