The non-announcement of the next Greek Commissioner to the Commission is mainly due to the fact that we still do not know, as the Prime Minister admits, the portfolio.
How likely is it that Greece will get an “active” and “important” portfolio so that the Prime Minister can choose the right commissioner? The chances are high, at the moment when o Kyriakos Mitsotakis together with the Pole Donald Tusk they had played a leading role in her election Ursula von der Leyen at the European Commission, with the Greek prime minister also being a negotiator for the European People’s Party.
The two new portfolios
Athens is keenly interested in both the productive and the so-called institutional portfolios, but also in a surprise portfolio that has yet to leak out of the prime ministerial environment. This is one of the two new portfolios that have been established this year. One is, as you know, that of Defense, which the information says has already been given to the Poles, and the second is that of the Digital Age, which includes innovations, but also artificial intelligence, which if finally given to us, a commissioner is said to be The Christos TarantilisDeputy Minister to the Prime Minister (in 2021), University Professor at the Department of Administrative Science and Technology of the Athens University of Economics.
However, Greece also claims other important portfolios, such as that of the Internal Market which includes (and) the competitiveness of the Economy. Those who follow Ursula von der Leyen’s activities will surely remember that it was in the area of the Internal Market that she emphasized her speech before the crucial vote for her election. After all, there are not a few who thought that this portfolio goes to her own group in the European People’s Party (EPP), something that is of course also of interest to Athens.
This time, with Mr. Mitsotakis’ leading role in both supporting and electing Ursula von der Leyen, Greece is not going to suffer the fate of the small countries of the European Union, which usually receive not so important portfolios. It claims portfolios alongside powerful European countries such as France and Italy. One of them is the Neighborhood and Enlargement portfolio, which for our country also has a geopolitical dimension (with the EU accession of the Western Balkans). In this portfolio, however, Athens has “rivals” the Baltic countries, which are also interested for their own reasons in taking this portfolio.
There was initially lively interest in the Georgia portfolio as well, but this interest has since lost some ground, among others on the grounds that major decisions on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and other critical issues (such as compensation, new crops, etc.) actually go through the European Council Summit. However, there are other “point” posts in which Athens is said to be interested, such as Energy, but also the pending positions of Housing, Mediterranean issues, which Cyprus also claims, as announced by the Nikos Christodoulidis (including Immigration and Security).
The list of candidates for the post of commissioner
As for the next commissioner, an informal… list of candidates has already been formed. But without the slightest announcement from Maximou. The only thing certain is that his term will not be renewed Margaret Ropes, after all, until now no commissioner of our country has served two terms (although everyone would like to). What the Prime Minister consistently says is that “the country will have a commissioner and the privilege of choosing a commissioner belongs exclusively to Greece. The country sends a person.” Beyond that, nothing.
However, there are many scenarios circulating, the first being that of the governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostaswho, as a serious candidate (who has a chance) does when asked, simply answers “I have no idea. What are you talking about?” Tzitzikosta’s name is heard perhaps more than any other, especially if our country takes on a productive portfolio. His names Giorgos Gerapetritis and his Stavros Papastavrou were heard at the beginning, but Mr. Gerapetritis has “open cases” as Foreign Minister with the Greek-Turkish, Cypriot, Western Balkans, Middle East and Greek-American relations and he will hardly leave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the information that we have been asked to send one male and one female candidate to be evaluated by the President of the Commission is true, then the Minister of Labor is still being heard Niki Kerameoseven if there are not many chances of overturning the existing government scheme due to Brussels.
In the midst of all this, the end of the ambassador’s term came to be added Annas-Marias Bura from the diplomatic office of the Prime Minister. Official government circles say that he will be transferred to a European country, but without specifying which one. It is customary – after all, it also happened with the previous diplomatic advisor of the Prime Minister, the ambassador Eleni Sourani –, when ambassadors complete their term in Maximos to be transferred to a European embassy. Mrs. Sourani became ambassador to Italy, Mrs. Bura, the information says, is going to Brussels. But where in Brussels? And then began a great scenario for Mrs. Bura…
Some said Ms Bura would be appointed commissioner, but this has not been confirmed by government sources. Others want her as ambassador to the Netherlands, perhaps because they know her husband is Dutch and works for the EU in Brussels. Some insist she may be moved to the EU’s Foreign Affairs Committee, a post she had served successfully a few years ago. And there are still scenarios circulating that want her in Ursula’s Cabinet. But in which position? The head of her Cabinet is her German partner and Mrs. Bura, as Ambassador A, cannot take any other position than that of the head.
Also, Ursula’s Cabinet (which seems to be popular) is being transferred to Thanasis Bakolas, who played an important role as secretary of the EPP for her election as president of the Commission. In Brussels there is also the permanent delegation to the EU, there is also the ambassador to NATO. For the permanent delegation nothing has been heard yet about Mrs. Bura, but for NATO the case should be ruled out, since the ambassador Nikon Nikolaidis, with an excellent run in the North Atlantic Alliance, is still young in his position. So where is Mrs. Bura going? It even sounds like the head position in the office of our country’s commissioner, whoever or whoever she is.
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