Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Bulgarian candidate for Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission, did not respond about her past, despite reports that she played a controversial role in the cabinet, according to Euractiv.
After von der Leyen nominated Zaharieva for Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, media reported several suspicions, suggesting she could face a tough hearing from MEPs.
In 2018, when Zaharieva was justice minister in Boyko Borissov’s cabinet, Bulgaria was rocked by a major corruption scandal involving him issuing Bulgarian passports to foreigners in exchange for a €5,000 bribe. The VMRO, a coalition party in Borissov’s cabinet, was reportedly at the centre of the scandal, although no convictions had been issued yet.
Another challenge for Zaharieva is that in 2019 she proposed to appoint Jordan “Orce” Kamcev, a North Macedonian businessman with a Bulgarian passport, as Bulgaria’s honorary consul in the neighbouring country. Kamcev is the richest man in Northern Macedonia according to Forbes. In 2023, he was sanctioned by the US for corruption.
Eventually, he did not become an honorary consul, which would have given him diplomatic immunity, as his name was implicated in other scandals. Euractiv asked on what basis Kamcev was offered the position. At the time he controlled media outlets that actively campaigned against Bulgaria in favour of former VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski.
Zaharieva was also asked whether family members had business dealings with companies linked to Kamcev. In 2021, Petar Bogoevski, a politician from Northern Macedonia, claimed that Kamcev paid 8 million euros to obtain protection from prosecution with the help of Bulgarian authorities. It was a scheme involving the name of Zaharieva’s husband.
