Bulgaria's FM Vigenin 'to Be EU Commissioner Candidate'

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin is to leave his office as the government is due to stand down next week. Photo by BGNES

Outgoing Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin will be the government's nomination to become the next EU Commissioner from the country, ruling party sources say.

Citing high-profile officials, members of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) told daily 24 Chasa that the socialist leadership decided to table Vigenin's candidacy after seeing the current EU Commissioner on humanitarian assistance Kristalina Georgieva is not likely to obtain a good portfolio.

Top BSP cadres explained the new EU Commissioner President Jean-Claude Juncker "did not take seriously" the idea that Georgieva could become the union's foreign policy chief as some media outlets argue, the paper reports.

Whereas EU leaders are yet to decide on all the names to fill the seats of EU Commissioners, the bloc's High Representative is expected to be agreed at a summit Wednesday.

Though Georgieva is mentioned as a "consensus figure" in some reports, which base their claims on sources close to EU institutions, she is not Bulgaria's official candidate for a second term as EU Commissioner.

Sofia has not officially announced any candidacy, and Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has refrained from hinting at a name he might propose when in Brussels on Wednesday evening. The cabinet is set to take a stance during a session of the Council of Ministers earlier during the day.

The name of outgoing BSP leader Sergey Stanishev (who also heads the Party of European Socialists (PES) within the European Parliament) has also been discussed by socialist officials.

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