site.btaBalkan EU Commissioner Nominees

On Monday the relevant European Parliament committees begin their hearing of the nominees for European Commissioners, which will last until November 12. Here are the proposals of the Balkan countries:

ROMANIA

Roxana Minzatu (44 years old), proposed by Romania, has extensive experience in the field of European funds, acquired both in the private and non-governmental sector, as well as in public positions, local media reported.

Since 2004, Minzatu has been an integration adviser at the Ministry of European Integration. She was a consultant, project manager and trainer in companies in Bucharest, Brussels and Brasov. She led the founding of the Romanian Business School in Brasov. She was minister in charge of EU funding from June 10 to November 4, 2019.

Minzatu  graduated from the Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences (specialization in English Political Sciences) at the University of Bucharest (2002), holds a master's degree in European integration (2005) and is a graduate of the Public Leadership program of Harvard Kennedy School of Government (2022).

She was an adviser and deputy of the currently ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Romania.

In the composition of the new European Commission, Roxana Minzatu  has been nominated as VExecutive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness

GREECE

On August 1, the Greek government nominated  the Governor of the Central Macedonia region, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, as a commissioner in the next European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen.

Central Macedonia is one of the 13 regions in the administrative division of Greece. It is the first in territory and the second in population, with an administrative center Thessaloniki.

Tzitzikostas has been the regional governor of Central Macedonia since 2013. He was re-elected in local elections in 2014, 2019 and 2023, and in 2015 was a candidate for the leadership of the ruling centre-right New Democracy.

Born in 1978, he graduated in political science, foreign policy and diplomacy from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and holds a master's degree in European public administration and economics from University College London.

In 2020 he was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions, thus becoming the first Greek to head a European body.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas is currently the European Commissioner-designate for Sustainable Transport and Tourism. His hearing will take place on November 4.

CYPRUS

Costas Kadis (57 years old), a scientist who held various posts in previous governments, was nominated as European Commissioner by Cyprus.

Kadis is a biologist with a focus on biodiversity and has held ministerial positions in the departments of health, education and agriculture in two different governments.

In the government of the late Tassos Papadopoulos, Kadis was Minister of Health from July 2007 to February 2008. He was also Minister of Education and Culture from 2014–2018 and Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment from 2018 until 2023 under Nicos Anastasiades.

Kadis  is currently the acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at a private university in the Republic of Cyprus.
Costas Kadis has been nominated as European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans. His hearing will be on November 6.

CROATIA

Croatia has re-nominated its current European Commissioner, Dubravka Suica. In the previous European Commission, she was the European Commissioner for Demography and Democracy and one of the Vice-Presidents of the Commission.
Suica has been an MEP since 2013. She is a member of the political group of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.

In the period 2000-2011, she was a member of the Croatian Parliament, and from 2012 to 2016, she was the deputy chairman of the currently ruling Croatian Democratic Union.

Suica was also the mayor of the city of Dubrovnik from 2001 to 2009.

She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb with a major in English and German. She worked as a teacher in both languages.

In the new European Commission, Dubravka Suica has been nominated as European Commissioner for the Mediterranean. Her hearing will take place on November 5.

SLOVENIA

Slovenia's EU Commission nominee, Marta Kos, is a former diplomat and candidate of the ruling Freedom Movement party for president in 2022. She later left the party.

Slovenia confirmed her nomination for European Commissioner after the previously proposed Tomaz Vesel withdrew his candidacy. According to local media, he did this so that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could achieve her goal of having a gender balance in the new EC composition.

Marta Kos was the ambassador of Slovenia in Germany, Latvia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

She previously worked as a journalist, including as a correspondent for Slovenian TV and Radio in Germany, as well as Deutsche Welle.

She graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences in the Ljubljana University.

Marta Kos has been nominated for EU Commissioner for Enlargement. Her hearing will take place on November 7.