Bulgaria to propose FM for EU Commission

(SOFIA) - Bulgaria's new right-wing Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Tuesday that he would propose the country's foreign minister as its next representative in the European Commission.

"Rumiana Jeleva is our candidate to become European Commissioner," Borisov was cited by local media as saying in the northeastern town of Kavarna.

Jeleva's candidacy will be officially endorsed during a meeting of his right-wing GERB party later Tuesday, Borisov added.

He said Bulgaria was aiming for the energy, enlargement or regional development portfolio on the commission and was currently holding talks with other EU member states on the issue.

The Bulgarian premier added that he would raise the portfolio topic during talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on October 12, and during a visit to Sofia by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on October 15.

The 40-year-old Jeleva, a sociology professor with a doctorate from the Otto von Guericke Universitat in Germany, was re-elected in June for a second term as European parliament deputy from the GERB party.

But she gave up her job at the European legislature to head the foreign affairs ministry in Borisov's government, which took office on July 27.

If appointed at the European executive, she would succeed Bulgaria's first European commissioner Meglena Kuneva, who has headed the consumer protection department since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.

Borisov had earlier refused to support Kuneva for a second term, insisting that GERB should have its own commissioner.

In an interview on national radio, Jeleva said Tuesday that "Bulgaria can achieve success in the enlargement portfolio."

"We can pass our positive experience on and also protect (future new member states) from certain errors," Jeleva said.