Head of Slovenia's European People’s Party (EPP) delegation told Euronews that the choice of Marta Kos is totally unacceptable to the European People's Party to which she belongs, citing experience and alleged links to the former Yugoslav secret police.
ADVERTISEMENTThe head of Slovenia's European People’s Party (EPP) delegation in the European Parliament Romana Tomc has told Euronews that the country's new nominee for commissioner Marta Kos is “completely unacceptable” and “problematic” for the EPP, the largest group in the Parliament.
She expressed concerns about Kos's lack of executive-level experience, which she believes is essential for the role of Commissioner.
Tomc also mentioned past alleged associations between Kos and UDBA, the secret police of former Yugoslavia, which dissolved in 1991 with Slovenia’s independence.
Kos has rebutted the charges in a statement to Euronews.
“Can you imagine that somebody, for example, in Germany would nominate a candidate with the burden of being a STASI associate in the past?” she asked, referring to the notorious former East German secret service.
She said that some of her colleagues in the European Parliament are “really nervous" hearing that there are UDBA associates "among us or even as a candidate for the Commission”.
“This is a no-go for us,” she added, dubbing the handling of the appointment of the country's Commissioner as a "humiliation" which has left Slovenia at risk of being viewed as the EU’s “troublemaker”.
Ljubljana's last-minute change of Commissioner nominees, which delayed President Ursula von der Leyen's portfolio reveal, ignited a row between PM Robert Golob and the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party, to which Tomc belongs and which he accuses of sabotage.
Tomaž Vesel, ex-head of the national Court of Auditors, was originally proposed before the summer, a decision re-confirmed by the government as recently as last week (3 September), before Ljubljana relented and agreed to send a woman.
“Why he changed his mind remains a mystery,” said Tomc, accusing Golob of simply caving to von der Leyen's demands. She further suggested that Vesel had a better chance of passing the European Parliament's scrutiny, claiming that the political landscape has shifted.
That U-turn is creating a political storm in Slovenia, which threatens to further delay von der Leyen's plans.
By law Kos must now attend a hearing of the Slovenian National Assembly’s EU Affairs Committee, which had originally been scheduled for today (13 September). That hearing has now been delayed, according to a Slovenian press agency source, without providing any further detail on when it might now take place.
Though lawmakers' views are non-binding, the chair of the committee Franc Breznik has threatened to delay the hearing by as long as two weeks while he gets more details about the pressure the government put on Vesel to step down, according to Slovenian media.
Tomc said that Franc Breznik is simply asking for clarity and documentation. “The problem could easily be solved. It’s well-known what the government needs to do: present the necessary paperwork. There’s no reason the committee wouldn’t fulfil its role if given the proper information,” she said.
“The government wants to blame the opposition for this, but that is absolutely not true,” the lawmaker from former prime minister Janez Janša’s party, adding that the opposition is merely following democratic procedures.
ADVERTISEMENTThe delay was caused by Prime Minister Robert Golob, she said, whom she labelled as “the weakest prime minister in the European Union” and under the thumb of Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Tomc claimed that her European Parliament colleagues have not pressured the Slovenian delegation or other MEPs opposing the nomination.
“They understand the situation. They respect that Slovenia has its own democratic procedures, where parliament must be informed and give the green light for the new candidate.”
She urged von der Leyen to respect Slovenia's democratic processes, asserting that the current impasse could be resolved if the government acted with more transparency.
ADVERTISEMENT“They’re also putting von der Leyen in a bad position because now she doesn’t know what to do,” she said.