The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen spoke this afternoon in Brussels with the candidates for European Commissioner of Bulgaria Ekaterina Zaharieva and Julian Popov, sources in the institution confirmed for NOVA.
Meetings were private, separately with the two candidates. Von der Leyen is expected to speak personally with all the nominees and on September 11 or 12 to present the composition, structure and portfolios of the new European Commission. The European Commissioners must then go through a hearing in the European Parliament.
Von der Leyen promised to have equal representation of men and women in the new commission, but so far most countries have proposed men as European commissioners. Therefore, the expectations are from the Bulgarian candidates that she will choose Zaharieva.
Earlier in the show “Intersection” the journalist and correspondent of “Club Z” in Brussels, Momchil Indjov stated that: “Personally, my guess is that Ursula von der Leyen will prefer Ekaterina Zaharieva for two reasons. The first is that she is a woman, and women make up only a third. And the other reason is party affiliation. Zaharieva is from GERB, from EPP, from which Ursula von der Leyen is also”.