Sergei Stanishev has said he’ll back Kristalina Georgieva for the post of EU foreign policy chief if EU leaders decided to give the position to the European People’s Party.

In a letter to Bulgaria’s caretaker Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki, the leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) said on Friday that he would readily support Georgieva’s nomination if the European Council decided to give the post to EPP at its scheduled meeting on August 30.

Earlier this week, Bliznashki asked Stanishev to throw his weight behind the unique opportunity to have Georgieva elected to one of the top positions in the new European Commission.

Stanishev, former leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, also said that should the European Council decide to give the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to the PES candidate Federica Mogherini, he would expect Bliznashki to support her. In that case, Stanishev said, he was ready to engage in dialogue to ensure that Bulgaria will get another key position in the new Commission.

Two weeks ago Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi officially nominated the country’s Foreign Minister Mogherini as candidate to become the EU’s new high representative for foreign affairs.

EU leaders met on 16 July to discuss a number of key appointments to be made for top EU positions. Having failed to reach a consensual solution on a full package of appointments, they decided to meet on August 30 to continue consultations.