Bulgaria's PM Backs Juncker as Next EC President Candidate

Plamen Oresharski, the Prime Minister who heads Bulgaria's socialist-led government, said Friday he has thrown his support behind EPP nominee for Commission President.

After an unsuccessful no-confidence vote in Parliament, Oresharski told the media that he had backed the bid of conservative Jean-Claude Juncker as EU Commission President.

"The reason is that the European People's Party [EPP] has got more MEPs than that of the socialists and, according to the agreement worked out before the [European] elections, the biggest political power has the right to pick up a candidate," the head of government explained.

Oresharski, who is not himself a member of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), even though it appointed him Prime Minister, is considered by many to be rather right-leaning in terms of political convictions.

However, this is the second time he holds an office in a BSP-led government, as he was Minister of Finance between 2005 and 2009, in the so-called "Three-Party-Coalition".

Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev, for his part, said on Friday he would go to Brussels as MEP only to help his party PES (of which he is President) to raise the nomination of socialist EU Commission President candidate Martin Schulz.