Members of the European Parliament (EP) today approved the candidacy of Hungarian Oliver Varhelji for the position of European Commissioner for Enlargement, the AFP agency reported, citing sources from the EP.
As previously announced by Politiko, the two largest groups in the European Parliament have announced that they will support the Hungarian candidate.
This should allow the EP to vote on the team of the new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on November 27.
Varhelji was the last of the 27 candidates of the European Commission to receive the approval of the European deputies who asked him for additional written answers.
He is currently Hungary's ambassador to the EU, and was given the go-ahead by the EP's Foreign Policy Committee after he assured them of his independence from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
"I will not be bound or under the influence of the prime minister of any country or any representative of the government," Varheji wrote in the answer he delivered to the European parliamentarians, reports Politiko.
The new commission should take office on December 1.
Bonus video:
