Tomaž Vesel has withdrawn his bid to become Slovenia's next EU commissioner in the wake of media reports alleging that Slovenia was one of the countries Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pressured to put forward a woman candidate.

Vesel informed Prime Minister Robert Golob of his decision on 6 September, saying that based on talks with Commission President von der Leyen he concluded that they had divergent views on the functioning of the new Commission.

"I ran for office with sincere intentions for the benefit of Slovenia. Unfortunately, President von der Leyen and I do not share the same concept of how the European Commission should work. My wish for Slovenia on this journey is that it finally gets an influential and good portfolio," said Vesel, thanking the prime minister for his trust.

Golob's office said the prime minister had accepted Vesel's withdrawal and already held talks with the coalition partners on taking further steps in the nomination of a new candidate for European commissioner.

The government will discuss a new candidate proposal on 9 September, which will be followed by a presentation before the relevant parliamentary committee. Golob will inform von der Leyen of the new name once the legal procedures have been completed.

Vesel's withdrawal comes as von der Leyen allegedly tried to persuade several member states to put forward women candidates instead of men, offering them a better portfolio in return. Romania has already done so.

Von der Leyen, a member of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), has been pushing for a gender-balanced European Commission but most member states have put forward male candidates.

The news portal N1 has reported that von der Leyen sent a strong-worded letter to Golob on 5 September, reiterating that she was not happy with Vesel's candidacy and expected Slovenia to put forward a woman candidate. She also said she wanted strong political candidates on the Commission. Neither the Commission nor the government would comment on the report.

On 4 September, von der Leyen said the competence of the candidates would be a key criterion for the composition of the Commission, but she also strove for geographical, political and gender balance. She said that former prime ministers, ministers, deputy ministers, senior diplomats and senior EU officials met the competence criterion.

Janez Janša, leader of the opposition Democrats (SDS), wrote on X earlier in the day that Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon and Marta Kos, a former diplomat who was the ruling party's candidate for the 2022 presidential elections, but later withdrew from the race, were potential new candidates for the post of EU commissioner.

Vesel, a former president of the Slovenian Court of Audit, held an introductory meeting with von der Leyen at the end of last month.