Kuneva said that she had received "not only the permission, but the support" of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to run for election in her country. She added that Barroso expected to be informed by all commissioners whether or not they intend to run for European election by the end of April.
"My colleagues and I will have the right to participate in the elections and obtain three weeks of leave for our pre-election campaigns. My leave will start on 17 May and end at the date of the European elections - 7 June. Afterwards, I will return to my regular duties as a European commissioner," Kuneva told Focus news agency.
Asked whether there was still a chance of her being Bulgarian commissioner in the next Commission, Kuneva indicated that she would be available for the job, but could not prejudge the European election results.
In 2006, Kuneva was nominated as Bulgaria's commissioner because as NDSV was, and still is, a member of the tripartite governing coalition, dominated by the socialist BSP.
Bulgaria will hold national elections in July, but at this stage it is unclear which political parties will be able to agree to form a governing coalition. The favourite for election appears to be GERB (Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria), a recent political project built around the personality of current Mayor of Sofia Boyko Borissov, closely followed by BSP.
Kuneva is on good terms both with Borissov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev. This bodes well for the renewal of her mandate in the next Commission, which is expected to be appointed this autumn, analysts said. Her chances would be even greater should Barroso be reappointed, as her performance has been ranked highly by the Commission president.
