Borissov: Bulgaria turned down post of EU foreign policy chief
In the June 30 negotiations among European Union leaders about who will hold the top posts in the EU, Bulgaria turned down the position of EU foreign policy chief, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov told reporters.
“What is more important to us – a commissioner with a real portfolio, or a senior European negotiator,” Borissov said on July 1, according to a report by Bulgarian National Radio.
On June 30, the European Council failed to come up with an agreement on who will hold the bloc’s top posts. Talks resumed on the morning of July 1, again with no result, and now reportedly are to continue on July 2.
Media reports said that the name of Mariya Gabriel, currently Bulgaria’s European Commissioner and holder of the digital society portfolio, had been mooted as the next EU foreign policy chief.
Borissov also rejected claims that Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva, twice a European Commissioner and a senior World Bank official, was being tipped to be the next President of the European Council.
With the lack of agreement in negotiations, there was no way this would happen, he said.
Borissov, who had said that he stood firmly behind the candidacy of Manfred Weber as the European People’s Party candidate to be President of the European, hinted after talks with centre-left candidate Frans Timmermans that he could reconsider his position.
Some media reports on July 1, quoting diplomatic sources, said that Timmermans could become President of the European Commission, while Weber would be handed the post of European Parliament President.
Negotiations on the posts are complicated not only by the respective demands of the different leaders of EU governments, but also by the EU’s principle that in sharing out the top posts in the bloc, there should be balance of gender, geographical and political factors.
