Sikorski tries to quash EU foreign policy chief speculation
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
14.05.2013 13:52
Poland’s foreign minister has said that he is not campaigning for the post of EU foreign policy chief, and, as the position will not be open till next year, all talk on the issue is mere “speculation”.
Minister Sikorski: photo - PAP Tomasz Gzell
Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was asked by Polish Radio about his intentions regarding the position currently occupied in Brussels by Catherine Ashton, who will be standing down next year, after he was tipped for the role by Hugo Brady, senior researcher at the Centre for European Reform in London – who also put forward Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk to take over from European Council president, Herman van Rompuy, who also stands down in 2014.
“Poland’s current prime minister, Donald Tusk, and his eloquent foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, are clear favourites for the post of Commission president and [foreign policy chief] respectively, though of course both jobs could not go to Poles,” Hugo Brady wrote in April this year.
Former deputy prime minister and now speaker in the lower house of parliament, Grzegorz Schetyna also pushed Sikorski’s candidature for EU foreign policy chief.
“He is a person with experience and very well known in Europe and the world. Certainly Poland should apply for key positions [in the EU],” Schetyna told Polish Radio.
Minister Sikorski told Polish Radio on Tuesday, however, that candidates for the two jobs at the EU will become clearer after European parliament elections next year.
A Pole, Janusz Lewandowski, is currently EU budget commissioner and former prime minister of Poland Jerzy Buzek stood down as president of the European Parliament last year. (pg)