And according to one French official, Macron likes the French-speaking former Portuguese prime minister, whom he likes to engage in intellectual discussions.
But the Portuguese legal system moves at a glacial pace, and while the investigation into Costa continues, his legal woes could be brought up by Nordics seeking to boost the candidacy of socialist Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose name has floated around conversations in the Brussels bubble for months.
The most uncertain post, at this point, is who will be appointed to foreign policy chief, four officials said. Estonian Prime Minister Kallas is eying the job, and as a female Eastern European liberal and national leader, would be a near ideal choice for liberals as they pick a successor to Josep Borrell.
In the run-up to the European election, EU countries with little experience of Russian aggression were skeptical about her strong anti-Kremlin stances. Some Western leaders feared Kallas might focus exclusively on Russia and not pay enough attention to other regions, especially the Middle East and Africa. But that opposition has since died down, as Kallas would perfectly fit into the current jobs puzzle, geographically, politically and diplomatically.
The easiest of the four nominations will be giving another two-and-a-half year term to current European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who is part of the EPP. After that, the leadership of the Parliament is set to go to the socialists. It’s the European Parliament, not EU leaders, who have the final say on this decision, though.
You scratch my back…
In the coming days, at the informal dinner and summit, European leaders will haggle with von der Leyen to secure concessions in exchange for their support, offering support in exchange for key portfolios in the next European Commission.
