Borissov pleased with innovation portfolio in possible new Commission

GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borissov expressed his gratitude for the innovation, research and start-ups portfolio European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen allocated to Bulgarian commissioner-designate Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Borissov was the only party leader in Sofia to comment on the portfolio, as Zaharieva is a current MP and former minister in two of his governments.

"Economy, industrialisation, competitiveness, innovation, and start-ups are the most powerful programmes which suit Bulgaria. I thank Ursula von der Leyen for what they have done for Bulgaria and this is a portfolio suitable for what we write in our programmes for Bulgaria,” said Borissov.

Zaharieva's portfolio largely repeats the responsibilities of Iliana Ivanova and Mariya Gabriel, who were in charge of "innovation, research, culture, education and youth".

However, her proposed portfolio is smaller, losing culture, education, and youth but adding EU start-ups.

Borissov urged Bulgarian journalists "not to forget" that Ursula von der Leyen and her team had noted that "Bulgaria has a supercomputer, it has a huge IT community" and had done a lot for IT education.

Bulgaria has several supercomputers, the most advanced of which, Hemus, was installed and started working about a year ago. The European Commission provided the money under the Operational Programme for Innovation and Growth, but this is not the reason for Zaharieva's nomination, as there are such computers in almost all European countries.

Two years ago, the INSAIT Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology was established in Sofia with state support.

On Tuesday, GERB tried to sell the Bulgarian public on the version that Zaharieva's portfolio was "one of the most powerful" in the European Commission because of the Horizon Europe budget of almost €100 billion.

Zaharieva is currently a party member and MP in the Bulgarian Parliament. Her previous senior position was as foreign minister in Borissov's third government (2017-2021). Over the past 11 years, Zaharieva has held several key political positions, some related to regional policy. She started at the top as deputy minister for regional development in Borissov's first government,

Zaharieva had a brief stint as minister for regional policy, after which she served as justice minister in Borissov's second cabinet between 2015 and 2017 before taking up the post of foreign minister in the third cabinet.

"I am aware of the responsibility, it is a big one," said Ekaterina Zaharieva herself after her nomination to the portfolio was announced.

She thanked the Bulgarian Parliament and Ursula von der Leyen for their confidence. "The portfolio that Bulgaria has received is one of the portfolios of the future," Zaharieva said. She added that Ursula von der Leyen gave a special place to innovation to make the European economy more competitive.

Former foreign minister Kristiyan Vigenin, currently an MP for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (PES), does not share Borissov's enthusiasm about the importance of the Bulgarian portfolio.

"The Bulgarian candidate received a modest portfolio, as we expected - startups, research and innovation. Bulgaria is among the worst in this field, it is not clear how this portfolio corresponds to the expertise and experience of the Bulgarian candidate-commissioner. After all, she is a former Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs... It seems that Ursila von der Leyen was wondering what to give Zaharieva and was riding on the momentum of the last term," commented Vigenin.

He hopes that the lack of expertise in this area will not cause problems during Zaharieva's hearing before the European Parliament.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)