Oliver Varhelyi

Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi was cleared by the European Parliament as the bloc's new neighbourhood and enlargement commissioner on Monday, overcoming doubts among some MEPs about his ability to encourage and assess reform in aspiring member states in light of his own country's perceived backsliding on democracy.

Hungary's candidate for the post of European Union enlargement commissioner set out an ambitious plan for integration of the Balkan region before the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday, including a target of 2020 to broker a deal to settle relations between Serbia and its former southern province, Kosovo.

The Conference of Presidents (EP President and leaders of political groups) on Friday decided that the hearings of the three new Commissioners-designate will take place on 14 November.

The new Commissioners-designate candidates are Oliver Várhelyi (Hungary), Adina-Ioana Vălean (Romania) and Thierry Breton (France).

The next President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has approved the candidates for the European Commissioners of France and Hungary Thierry Breton and Oliver Varhelyi. This was announced today by EC spokesman Mina Andreeva, quoted by BNR.

Von der Leyen conducted the two interviews last night.

Hungary on Monday nominated Oliver Varhelyi, its ambassador to the EU, as its new candidate for a European Commissioner's post, after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen accepted a decision by the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs to block Budapest's previous proposal, Laszlo Trocsanyi.