Spanish PM pushing Moratinos for EU foreign policy post - report

(MADRID) - The Spanish government is pushing Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos as a candidate for the European Union's new foreign affairs post, El Pais reported Wednesday.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero "has entered the battle for the distribution of posts in the EU" by promoting the candidacy of Moratinos, a former EU special representative for the Middle East, the newspaper reported.

Zapatero spoke publicly of Moratinos as a possible candidate for the post for the first time on Tuesday, calling him an "excellent" foreign minister at a joint news conference with visiting Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom.

"He has carried out his role very well here... and I hope he remains in the Spanish government," Zapatero added.

Moratinos, a career diplomat, said he was not interested in the post during an interview Wednesday with news radio Cadena Ser.

"I am very satisfied, very happy to be Spain's foreign minister. It's true that I am being talked about, that my name is circulating, but I am not a candidate and I do not aspire to the post," he said when asked about the report.

The new post of high representative for foreign policy, created by the reforming Lisbon Treaty endorsed this month, is a beefed up version of the existing post of EU foreign policy chief currently held by Spain's Javier Solana.

EU leaders want to finalise the nomination at a working dinner summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Moratinos' candidacy would face several obstacles, one of them being that top EU posts are traditionally distributed geographically.

The foreign policy chief will also serve as a vice-president of the European Commission, whose president Jose Manuel Barroso is from neighbouring Portugal.

Spain's policy of seeking rapprochement with Cuba, which has been criticised by Washington, as well as the fact that it, unlike the majority of its EU peers, has not recognised Kosovo's independence are also possible drawbacks.