Gabriel Fills Bulgaria's Vacant EU Commission Post

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's new cabinet, at its first meeting on Wednesday, nominated Mariya Gabriel, an MEP from the centre-right European People's Party, for the post of EU Commissioner.

Borissov's office said he had informed the President of the European Commission about the decision.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said Gabriel's portfolio would be determined on May 16 in an interview with Commission President Juncker.

She will most likely obtain the Digital Single Market portfolio, which is vacant.

"Whatever portfolio I receive, my leading priority remains protecting Bulgaria and the European citizens," Gabriel said.

Gabriel's name had long been circulating as Bulgaria's probable new EU commissioner.

Rumours intensified after top officials from the governing GERB party - Deputy Prime Ministers Tomislav Donchev and Ekaterina Zaharieva - suggested that the new commissioner will be "a woman" and "an MEP with experience in the European institutions" who would "very likely become in charge of digital economy".

The nomination ends almost six months in which Bulgaria was left without a representative on the EU executive.

The vacuum opened up after Kristalina Georgieva, former Vice-President of the Commission in charge of Budget and Human Resources between 2014 and 2016, left to become a CEO at the World Bank. Georgieva's departure followed her unsuccessful bid to become UN Secretary-General in 2016.

Bulgaria nominated Georgieva for the post of UN chief at the last moment after deciding she had better chances than fellow Bulgarian Irina Bokova, current head of UNESCO.

The attempt of Borissov's former cabinet to push through Georgieva ended in fiasco, however. She performed...

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