site.btaNomination of New European Commissioner Moves Up on Sofia's Agenda

In the coming days, the European Commission (EC) will ask Bulgaria officially to nominate a new Commissioner to replace Mariya Gabriel, who left her post in the Commission last month as she accepted a nomination for prime minister of Bulgaria. The matter of Gabriel's replacement was discussed between Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the telephone, the Government Information Service reported on Thursday.

Denkov thanked von der Leyen for her congratulations on the election of the new government. The EC leader was the first international politician to wish good luck to him and Deputy PM Gabriel in discharging their new duties.

During the call, the PM briefly outlined the priorities of the new cabinet. These include drafting the state budget schemes for 2023 and 2024, getting the country into the Schengen area and the eurozone, and legislative amendments and reforms required under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Von der Leyen stressed the importance of protecting the external borders of the European Union and confirmed that Bulgaria will be given EUR 45 million to beef up border security.

The two leaders plan to meet in person, probably in Brussels before the June 29-30 regular European Council meeting.