BRUSSELS — Piotr Serafin, a senior Polish diplomat and close confidant to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, will be Warsaw's nominee for its next European commissioner.

Polish public service broadcaster TVP suggested that Serafin is eyeing a budget portfolio.

Serafin is a well-known figure around Brussels, where he currently serves as the acting Polish permanent representative to the European Union, a job he's held since December 2023.

Tusk announced the decision on Tuesday at a press conference.

Serafin will replace Janusz Wojciechowski, Poland's current European commissioner.

Wojciechowski, a relatively low-key official, has been in charge of the agriculture portfolio. Farmers have criticized him for mishandling their grievances as thousands took to the streets across Europe this year in protest of the bloc's green transition targets.

Defense, a new commissioner post once floated as a possible area of interest for Poland, could be less attractive given the limited budget involved.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was initially tipped as a candidate for defense commissioner but later shot down that suggestion.

Serafin is no stranger to the EU's power corridors.

He was the chief of staff to Tusk when the latter was European Council president from 2014 to 2019. Serafin was at the center of inter-institutional battles with his counterparts from the European Commission, the body he's now seeking to join.

After that stint, he was director of transport, telecommunications and energy at the Council of the EU's general secretariat.

Before he moved to Brussels, he served as a secretary of state for European affairs at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Poland hasn't named a female candidate, dealing yet another blow to newly reelected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's plea for gender parity.