Brussels, 30/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the defection of Varujan Vosganian, it is Romania's European Affairs Minister and erstwhile chief negotiator for Romania's EU accession negotiations, Leonard Orban, who has been appointed as Romania's Commissioner Delegate. Informed on Sunday evening about the new choice of Romanian President Traian Basescu and Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, issued a press release on Monday explaining: 'I am sure that Mr Orban, on the basis of his personal, political and professional experience, qualities and commitment will successfully carry out the responsibilities which I wish to assign to him.' The forty-five year old economist and engineer will be made responsible for multilingualism, a new post in the new College of Commissioners (27 Commissioners in total).
The appointment of Meglena Kuneva as Bulgaria's Commissioner Delegate (responsible for consumer protection) proceeded smoothly, but the talks between the Romanian government and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, were far more intense concerning Varujan Vosganian, whose candidacy was immediately challenged. He finally withdrew at the weekend, rejecting allegations in Romanian newspapers of having worked for the notorious Romanian secret police, the Securitate, under Ceaucescu. Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma, Vice-Presidents of the Socialist group at the European Parliament, who slammed Vosganian's lack of experience and claims of links with industry (see EUR OPE 9295) last week, said Romania's new candidate was 'a considerable improvement'. They explain in a press release: 'The new candidate, deputy Europe minister and former chief EU negotiator Orban, has the necessary European experience. However, we regret that because of the current divisions within the country, it was not possible for Romania to come forward with a more prominent political personality as its candidate. We look forward to the parliamentary hearings in which, as always, we will be rigorous but fair in testing the competence of the candidate to carry out this task.' The Romanian and Bulgarian Commissioners will join their colleagues on 1 January 2007 - their appointment requires European Parliament approval during the December plenary. (ab)