After months of political uncertainty, Bulgaria is going back to the polls — and is close to finally proposing a European commissioner.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had asked EU countries to put forward a name for commissioner by the end of August. But in Sofia, the ongoing and faltering talks to form a national government have dragged on for three months. At the time of writing, just three countries had not named a commissioner — Bulgaria plus Belgium and Italy.
There are several names in the frame.
The choice of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s GERB party is Ekaterina Zaharieva, foreign minister between 2017 and 2021 and a former minister for justice and for regional development.
According to several people familiar with the talks, Bulgaria would like Zaharieva to be commissioner for regional and cohesion policy, which would give her oversight of the European Regional Development Fund, which accounts for a third of the EU budget.
“Ekaterina Zaharieva has a lot of experience. She is known in Brussels. I think what the party has proposed is a good candidacy,” Borissov said in a press conference on Thursday.
The liberal We Continue the Change party (PP-DB), known for its anti-corruption agenda, wants Julian Popov, until recently the minister of environment and water, to be commissioner. Popov was also a political adviser for Central and Eastern Europe at the European Climate Foundation.
Party leader Kiril Petkov, a former prime minister, told POLITICO that he hoped Popov could get the sought-after energy portfolio for Bulgaria.
“Julian Popov is one of the most influential voices in Europe on the subject of energy and that is why we rely on him as a non-partisan candidate and an expert with high competence,” reads a press release from PP-DB. “In a moment of political crisis, the elevation of a non-party figure with the status of a world expert is the way to show that the Bulgarian interest is greater than the narrow party one.”
A diplomat who was granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject told POLITICO that France had unofficially expressed that it would support Bulgaria getting the energy job as the country would likely support its pro-nuclear position.
Other names were put forward by the third and fourth largest parties. Iskra Mihaylova (DPS-Peevski), who was until recently vice-chair for the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, and Velislava Petrova (ITN), a former deputy foreign minister and chief program officer at the Brussels-based International Center for Future Generations.
The interim prime minister, Dimitar Glavchev, will consider all candidates and put forward two names to von der Leyen by Saturday.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Bulgarian voters will head to the polls again at the end of October, which will be the seventh parliamentary election in three years.
A recent survey by the Alfa Research Foundation in Sofia revealed that nearly one-third of Bulgarians are inclined towards authoritarian governance, including communism or military rule. The researchers believe that the growing acceptance of authoritarianism is because of longstanding political instability following repeated inconclusive elections.
According to local media, Bulgaria has spent nearly €260 million on parliamentary elections, including the EU election, in just three years.
Kathryn Carlson contributed reporting.