The Bulgarian government has put forward a woman and a man as candidates to be its European commissioner — the only country to have publicly followed the advice of Ursula von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen, the European Commission’s first-ever female president, had asked governments to make two nominees so she could build a gender-balanced team.

However, that hasn't happened. Before Bulgaria's announcement, just six women had been nominated to join von der Leyen's team, compared to 17 men (Italy and Belgium are still to nominate).

Bulgaria has put forward Ekaterina Zaharieva, foreign minister between 2017 and 2021 and a former minister for justice and for regional development; and Julian Popov, until recently the minister of environment and water, and former political adviser for Central and Eastern Europe at the European Climate Foundation.

Bulgaria would like Zaharieva to be commissioner for regional and cohesion policy, which would give her oversight of the European Regional Development Fund, which accounts for a third of the EU budget.

Popov, on the other hand, is seen as a candidate for the sought-after energy portfolio.