Bulgaria PM Urges PES Head to Back Georgieva’s Nomination to New EC

Bulgaria’s caretaker PM Georgi Bliznashki has called for broad non-partisan support for the nomination of Kristalina Georgieva as the new EU’s foreign policy chief.

Bliznashki said at a news conference in Sofia that he has signed an open letter to the leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Sergei Stanishev, asking the former leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) to throw his weight behind the unique opportunity to have Georgieva elected to one of the top positions in the new European Commission.

All Bulgarian members of the European Parliament should join forces to support Georgieva as candidate to be the European Commission’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission's Vice President, said Bliznashki who was appointed to head a caretaker government last week after the BSP-backed Socialist-Liberal coalition cabinet of PM Plamen Oresharski stepped down to open the way for early elections in October.

Currently Georgieva is European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response in the outgoing European Commission and is among the favoured bidders for the position of foreign policy chief in the new Commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker. Georgieva, a former World Bank Vice President, has earned an excellent reputation as commissioner.