EU Regional Policy Commissioner Hubner Cancels Bulgaria Trip

The European Regional Policy Commissioner, Danuta Hubner, has canceled her June 18-19 trip to Bulgaria, her office reports Tuesday.

The spokesperson did not offer any concrete reasons, except "unexpected obligations in Brussels"

Hubner is most likely to visit Bulgaria after the parliamentary elections with a tentative trip day of July 8.

The Commissioner had a busy schedule for the canceled trip - opening of the first five kilometers of the "Lyulin" highway, visiting the construction site of the Sofia metro, a purification station in the Black Sea city of Burgas, the beach town of Nesebar, opening of a new sewage system in Varna, visit to a school in the Black Sea capital.

Hubner was also set to meet local authorities as well as Prime Minister, Sergey Stanishev, Deputy PM in charge of the EU funds, Meglena Plugchieva, and several Ministers.

According to anonymous sources, Hubner's team advised her to postpone the trip over her presence at controversial sites in the time of active election campaigning in the country.

Other reasons speculated on, include Hubner's undetermined future as representative of Poland in the European Commission (EC). She ran at the European Parliament (EP) elections and won a seat in the future parliament, leaving open the question if she would remain with the EC or become a Member of the EP.

European diplomatic sources are quoted as considering Poland to be eying one of the key EC jobs - the post of Enterprise and Industry Commissioner, currently held by German Gunter Verheugen, the Russian information agency ITAR-TASS reports.

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