Greece nominates Tzitzikostas as EU commissioner, Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica renominated
6242 Mins Read
Greece wants Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the governor of Central Macedonia, as its next European commissioner, Greece announced Thursday.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already informed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about the nomination.
This means the current Greek commissioner, Margaritis Schinas, will not stay in Brussels.
Tzitzikostas’ name had been floating for several weeks as the potential Greek nominee. He has experience in Brussels as president of the European Committee of the Regions.
“Tzitzikostas’ selection is a choice with political characteristics, which highlights the importance of Macedonia and northern Greece for Europe, as a region with a strategic location, interconnectivity and geopolitical importance both for the Balkans and South-Eastern Europe, and as the north-eastern edge of the Mediterranean,” Pavlos Marinakis, a government spokesman, said on Thursday.
Mitsotakis told POLITICO earlier this month that his country is adamant that it should get a very important job in the next European Commission. “I would certainly like a portfolio that highlights on the one hand the progress that Greece has made economically, but also Greece’s sort of strategic position at the southeastern flank of Europe and of NATO,” the prime minister said.
Despite von der Leyen’s demand that countries nominate both a man and a woman for the role, Mitsotakis only put forward one name as Greek commissioner. Von der Leyen is aiming to have a gender-balanced Commission in the next five years.
Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica renominated
Croatia’s European Commissioner Dubravka Šuica said she has been re-nominated for another five-year term, in a post on X.
Šuica, who hails from the center-right European People’s Party family, described herself as “deeply honoured” and “grateful” to the Croatian government led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković for the nomination. Plenković reposted her tweet.
Šuica, a former MEP, mayor of Dubrovnik, and German language teacher, has held the democracy and demography portfolio since 2019.
She becomes only the second female member of the outgoing 27-strong College of Commissioners, after President Ursula von der Leyen, to be poised to return. The Croat will have to undergo a hearing in the European Parliament in order to get a second term.
Von der Leyen has asked all countries that are not renominating their current commissioner to put forward both a male and a female candidate — although the majority of countries have so far ignored that request and only publicly named a male candidate.
