site.btaSocialist Floor Leader Calls Bulgaria's Portfolio "Rather Modest and Lean"

Commenting on the Bulgarian portfolio in Ursula von der Leyen's new European Commission on Tuesday, BSP for Bulgaria Floor Leader Borislav Gutsanov called it "rather modest and lean". "The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) warned that things could come to this and we proved right," he said, referring to Ekaterina Zaharieva's Startups, Research and Innovation portfolio.

"We are concerned that Zaharieva's expertise as a former minister is in law and foreign affairs. Now she has to appear for a confirmation hearing, which is also a cause for concern. After all, we are talking about Bulgaria's performance," said Gutsanov.

"We personally hoped for the Energy portfolio, we believe Bulgaria would have fit the bill. We can see that Ursula von der Leyen gave a rather good opportunity to Romania, which will have a second representative as Commission Vice President. Once again, Bulgaria was placed in a very unfavourable situation, and as far as portfolios go, we are in last place in the EU in this one, which also raises many questions," Gutsanov said.