The head of the European integration directorate with the cabinet will temporarily assume the office of Bulgaria's EU Affairs Minister.

This was announced by Meglena Kuneva, who served as EU Affairs Minister in the last two governments and was approved in Strasbourg as the country's first EU commissioner.

Kuneva will come into her Brussels office on the first day of the New Year. She will take over the consumer protection portfolio, previously held by Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

Zanaida Veleva will serve as Bulgaria's EU Affairs Minister by the time the ruling coalition reaches an agreement on who Kuneva's successor will be.

Two candidates are reportedly vying to assume the chair - leftist Andriana Sukova - Tosheva, executive director at the Bulgarian International Business Association (BIBA), and centrist Gergana Grancharova, Deputy Foreign Affairs minister.

Meglena Kuneva came from the centrist movement of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg and now the socialists say the new Brussels job should satisfy the appetites of her party.

The odds are that the two parties will not manage to settle the score themselves. As usual, the "Great Troika", made up of ruling coalition leaders, will have the final say.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!