Updates: Jeleva made no violation: Bulgarian Ministry of Justice report - EXCLUSIVE, Check-mate; Jeleva unsalvable; a commentary, Borisov opens the door for new Commission nominee

The matter of European Commission designate Rumiana Jeleva has been keeping our newsroom busy. With conflicting information coming in, the matter has become a matter of attempted political homicide. Was she or wasn’t she the manager of Global Consult? When was this? Did she lie to the European Parliament? Even allegations of too-large declarations of income during her term in the European Parliament and tax-evasion on a house she owns have been communicated to our newsroom.  But all is fair in love and war; free speech can also be counterproductive.

First impression

Having been the first to interview Jeleva after Barroso announced to her the designated portfolio, and speaking to only that specific interview, which was a broad interview concerning both Bulgarian matters and EU matters, Jeleva seemed both competent and knowledgeable on the matters at hand. 

Unsalvable

Jeleva cannot be saved– it does not matter if all the allegations are proved to be fabricated. I am not convinced yet as to her innocence, but we can take her innocence as a presumption.

Even if we assume she is innocent however, Jeleva remains damaged goods, politically speaking.

Attack, attack, attack

There is only one thing which is strange. Countless allegations were made against Jeleva, information for which political opponents had well ahead of time. As these allegations did not pertain to her competence for this portfolio, why didn’t the Socialists launch an investigation with the legal service weeks or months ago?

MEP Antonyia Parvanova is a political opponent of Boyko Borisov and very vocal against Jeleva. According to analysts who appear in the support of Borisov’s GERB party, the allegations she used to attack Jeleva are the very same that did not move public opinion at all in Bulgaria in the past. The Parvanova camp however, has suggested that the special prosecutor for conflicting interests in Bulgaria was swiftly replaced by Borisov as soon as a case file for Jeleva was opened. Whether Parvanova’s allegations are correct, requires an in-depth legal investigation.

Barroso at impasse

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has now found himself at an impasse. If he stands in support of Jeleva, legal proceedings can see his Commission facing a motion of no confidence by the European Parliament. Furthermore, should he support Jeleva and face the wrath of the Socialists, and the retaliation of the EPP, who knows how long it will take to see a functioning Commission. It is also an ethical issue for Barroso, who knows that Europe faces a real loss for every day a “real” Commission is not in place.

Barroso is thus essentially left with no real option but to ask for a new nominee for Bulgaria, and hope the EPP backs down with threats against Socialist Commissioner-designate Maros Sefcovic.

Borisov at impasse

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is also essentially at a dead end. The media hype, and political outcry which is not the result of an investigation of the allegations, but only the allegations themselves, have made Jeleva expendable. After all, the most important thing is the good of the country, and on a secondary level, the good of the party. As Borisov said, her rejection “is not tragic”. Italy had their candidate, Rocco Buttiglione, rejected during the first round of the Barroso hearings, again after the Socialists’ objections.

Candidates to replace Jeleva?

There are many who would like to be the ones to replace Jeleva. But let’s start with an assumption: whoever replaces Jeleva needs to be a woman. Otherwise all the work put into the countless campaigns and press-releases which praised the fact that 1/3 of the Commission was to be composed of women has gone to waste. (Unless the socialists replace their collateral damage with a woman – but at this point let’s assume that during war such “trades” are not to be expected).

Following this logic, we must for instance scrap the Bulgarian Minister of Defence Nikolay Mladenov, although he does have experience in Europe. Having gone through a list of potential candidates, the one that seems to overshadow the other candidates, both with her CV and her political skill, is current MEP, and former Foreign Minister, Nadezhda Mihaylova. On a side note, Mladenov was a deputy of Mihaylova in the UDF party while she was President of the party.

For sure many names will be tossed around in the event that Jeleva will be replaced; but this is my 'two cents'.

A strong portfolio for Bulgaria

The portfolio of Jeleva is a good one for Bulgaria. A portfolio of prestige and relative power; who would have imagined 9 years ago that Bulgaria could be a member of the EU before 2010 with a Commissioner in charge of International cooperation, humanitarian aid, and crisis response?

Daul hypocrisy

The chairman of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul has caught himself being quite hypocritical. After Jeleva’s hearing and, truth-be-told, exaggerated attack on a matter which should not have been resolved in the 3-hour space of the hearing, Daul stated that “I would like certain political groups to stop acting in an irresponsible and partial manner during these hearings.” And it did not take more than 24 hours for the EPP to return in kind, issuing a statement against Socialist Commissioner-designate Maros Sefcovic. Sefcovic is charged for an anti-Roma remark made in 2005. A thick fog of desperation hangs in the air... 

Did too; did not

If Jeleva is at fault, then she should go home. But Jeleva did not get the hearing she deserved and if cleared, deserves a chance to answer questions in a different climate than the one she faced.  

Unfit

As we wrote in our hearing report, Jeleva mismanaged the crisis, quite evident that she may in fact not be fit for the portfolio in question. And her choice of listening to questions in English, and proceeding to also answer them in English, unfortunately reduced her effectiveness in communicating clearly, possibly misunderstanding what was being asked under stress.

No matter how many documents pop-up to clear Jeleva, and condemn her, political battles historically have shown that different sides offer different legal interpretations. But it seems, at least to me, that Jeleva is unsalvable no matter whose interpretation is the truth.

 In any case:

The truth shall set you free, but not save you from demise.