EU President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her new commission and nominated Greece’s Apostolos Tzitzikostas transport commissioner on Tuesday.
Tzitzikostas, a prominent member of the governing New Democracy (ND) party, served as governor of the region of Central Macedonia since 2013 and was formerly President of the European Committee of the Regions from 2020 until 2022.
He studied International Politics and Diplomacy at Georgetown University and worked at the office of the Chair of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Following his graduation in Public Policy and Economics at the University College of London, he returned to Greece and in 2001 he created his own company on the field of production, processing and standardization of dairy products, based on organic standards, by the name MACEDONIAN FARM SA later to be marketed by industry leader Mevgal. From 2003 until 2007 he served as CEO.
Greece also runs the transport committee in the European Parliament.
Politico reports that the pick is raising eyebrows as Greece continues to contend with the fallout from a deadly train crash in decades and allegations of a cover-up.
The shipping nation is also accused of helping Russia skirt sanctions with a Greek-flagged shadow fleet transporting Russian oil.
The full list of portfolios in the EU Commission
Ursula von der Leyen (Germany): European Commission President
Teresa Ribera (Spain): Executive Vice-President for the Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. Acts as competition commissioner.
Henna Virkkunen (Finland): Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
Stéphane Séjourné (France): Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy
Roxana Mînzatu (Romania): Executive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness
Raffaele Fitto (Italy): Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms
Kaja Kallas (Estonia): High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy
Magnus Brunner (Austria): Internal Affairs and Migration
Hadja Lahbib (Belgium): Preparedness, Crisis Management. Equality
Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria): Startups, Research and Innovation
Dubravka Šuica (Croatia): Mediterranean. Responsible for relations with Mediterranean neighbors in Middle East and North Africa.
Costas Kadis (Cyprus): Fisheries and Oceans
Jozef Síkela (Czech Republic): International Partnerships. This covers international development spending and the EU’s rival to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative.”
Dan Jørgensen (Denmark): Energy and Housing
Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece): Sustainable Transport and Tourism
Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary): Health and Animal Welfare
Michael McGrath (Ireland): Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law
Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia): Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification
Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania): Defense and Space
Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg): Agriculture and Food
Glenn Micallef (Malta): Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport
Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands): Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth
Piotr Serafin (Poland): Budget, Anti-fraud, Public Administrations
Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal): Financial Services
Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia): Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency
Marta Kos (Slovenia): Enlargement
Jessika Roswall (Sweden): Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy
