Bulgaria nominates Zaharieva for Commissioner at von der Leyen’s request

Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev announced on Monday (9 September) that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had asked him to nominate Ekaterina Zaharieva, a GERB (EPP) MP, as Bulgarian commissioner.

The move came after Glavchev sent two candidacies for EU commissioner on 30 August, becoming the only country to answer von der Leyen’s request to propose one male and one female applicant.

The two candidates were Ekaterina Zaharieva, a former justice and foreign minister in governments led by Boyko Borissov, now an MP from his GERB party, and Julian Popov, a former minister of environment and a fellow of the European Climate Foundation.

Bulgaria submits two candidates for EU Commissioner

Bulgaria submitted to Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, two candidates for Commissioner, reportedly becoming the only country to answer her request of proposing one male and one female applicant, on Friday (30 August).

On 3 September, von der Leyen met consecutively with Zaharieva and Popov in the Berlaymont.

Glavchev’s press service explained on Monday (5 September) that he received a letter in which von der Leyen thanked him for the two candidacies and officially asked Bulgaria to nominate Zaharieva as a single Bulgarian candidate.

The press service said Glavchev had responded positively.

According to EU treaties, member states have the prerogative of nominating their commissioner.

In an effort to achieve gender balance at the EU high table, von der Leyen asked member states to submit two candidacies, one male and one female. This request, however, was widely ignored by member states.

So far, member states have nominated 17 male members of the college and 10 female members, which is far from gender parity. However, the proportion might change after hearings in the European Parliament in mid-October, which are expected to be heated.

Picking up a Commissioner: Von der Leyen’s act of responsibility

Bulgaria has answered Commission President’s request and submitted two candidacies for EU Commissioner. Von der Leyen’s decision should be based on the candidate’s integrity, and not according to political favoritism, writes Yordan Terziyski.

Nikola Minchev, MEP from “We Continue the Change”, told Euractiv on Tuesday that he was disappointed with the development.

“Gender balance is important, but even more important are von der Leyen’s policy priorities, and Julian Popov was clearly the right choice”, he said.

“Popov is a staunch supporter of Ukraine, while Zaharieva was involved in a pipeline project which facilitated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”, he said about the TurkStream pipeline, which brings Russian gas across the Black Sea via Bulgaria to the Western Balkans and Central Europe.

How Bulgaria gave Gazprom the keys to the Balkans

It was a well-kept secret that Gazprom, Russia’s oil and gas juggernaut, has laid its hands on key gas connections along the borders of Bulgaria until a journalistic investigation by EURACTIV Bulgaria exposed this.

Minchev also said that Zaharieva’s name was tainted by the scandal involving the illegal sale of Bulgarian passports to paying clients several years ago.

“By selling Bulgarian passports, in fact, EU citizenship was sold including to people who seek to undermine our union”, he said.

Deputy PM, minister and MEP named in Bulgaria’s cash-for-passport scam

EXCLUSIVE: A deputy prime minister, a minister and a Bulgarian MEP are allegedly responsible for illegally selling Bulgarian passports to foreigners, according to claims made by a whistleblower who provided a bundle of documents that appeared to confirm the accusation.

The passport-selling scandal has faded away as VMRO, a nationalist party behind the scheme to which Zaharieva was close, is no longer in power. Katia Mateva, the whistleblower who brought the scandal to the light in 2018, told Euractiv last week that despite the strong evidence she has provided, the State Agency for National Security (DANS) has “buried” the case.

On Wednesday, von der Leyen is expected to announce in the European Parliament the full list of her team members and the portfolios she will attribute to them.

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