Slovenia's candidate Marta Kos has been assigned the enlargement portfolio in the next European Commission. Announcing the briefs in Strasbourg on 17 September, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that the procedure to confirm Kos's candidacy in Slovenia is still ongoing.

Kos, a 59-year-old former diplomat, will be responsible for the EU's enlargement and Eastern neighbourhood.

"She will work on supporting Ukraine - and continuing the work on reconstruction, and support candidate countries to prepare them for accession," von der Leyen said.

The enlargement portfolio was hinted at by Prime Minister Robert Golob in an interview aired by the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija on the eve of the Commissioner college presentation.

The "portfolio is proof that Slovenia is valued and respected in the international community", Golob said in his first response on the government's X profile, adding that it was a high-responsibility duty.

Slovenia is "entrusted with the key to ensuring stability and peace in our immediate neighbourhood and beyond", he said, adding that Slovenia would also be contributing to stabilising the Western Balkans and the Eastern neighbourhood.

Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, who media alleged had been favoured by von der Leyen to be Slovenia's commissioner candidate, hailed Slovenia getting the enlargement portfolio on X as "great news".

She said she was looking forward to cooperating in the further support for the Western Balkan countries and the Eastern neighbourhood on their European path.

Kos still needs to get a non-binding opinion from the opposition-led parliamentary EU Affairs Committee before she can be formally nominated.

The committee chair, Democrat (SDS) Franc Breznik called the session to interview Kos for 18 September after he had been refusing to call it for a week.

He relented after von der Leyen sent him a letter in which she asked Golob to replace the initial candidate Tomaž Vesel, the former head of Slovenia's top auditing authority. Breznik had demanded to see the letter before Kos can be interviewed.

In the letter, which was first published on X by SDS leader Janez Janša, von der Leyen says Vesel lacks the required experience and competences to cooperate with the European Parliament and the European Council and conduct important negotiations on behalf of the EU.

"Those competences are acquired in particular in exercising high-profile political or at least ambassadorial responsibilities at the Union or at national level," her letter, dated 5 September, reads.

She added that she was thus not in the position to propose Vesel to be appointed an European commissioner and called on Golob to propose another candidate by 10 September.

Vesel withdrew his bid on 6 September and the government put forward Kos, the former Slovenian ambassador to Germany and Switzerland, as the new candidate on 9 September.

Breznik said the letter proved that Golob had lied to the public by claiming that Vesel had resigned, while Breznik's party boss Janša alleged on X that von der Leyen had rejected Vesel on Golob's proposal.