Peter Kažimír’s surprise candidacy to lead the Eurogroup threatens to disrupt the harmony among various political groups in the European Union just as the next round of selection for the bloc’s top jobs gets underway.
The Eurogroup race will determine who replaces Dutch social democrat Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who stands down next month as leader of the informal group which ensures coordination of economic policies.
Eurozone socialists thought they had already picked Portugal’s Mário Centeno to officially represent them in the informal role.
But Mr Kažimír and has now thrown his hat in the ring along Mr Centeno, Luxembourg’s liberal Pierre Gramegna and Latvia’s Dana Reizniece-Ozola of the country’s Greens and Farmers party.
Mr Kažimír decision is all the more controversial because he has fallen out of favour with fellow eurozone socialists.
Officials fear the Slovak has a tendency to “speak without thinking” and at least one critic doubted if he could “do the job without insulting people”.
Others wonder if the move is in retaliation to Slovak capital Bratislava’s failure in the race to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which must relocate from London after Brexit.
Amsterdam edged out Milan for the EMA, with Bratislava not even getting past the first round of voting despite having been considered a leading contender.
Many saw the result as another sign the EU’s western countries enjoy a favoured status over those in the east.
A Slovakian government official insisted Mr Kažimír’s Eurogroup bid was not linked to the EMA decision.
But he said: “If eurozone finance ministers choose to also overlook Slovakia for the Eurogroup, this would be an unhappy situation that could lead to another east-west divide.”
Mr Kažimír’s bid complicates the Eurogroup vote and could derail the socialists’ attempt to hold onto the only major EU institution in Brussels they lead.
The Commission, Parliament and Council are all headed by conservatives from the European People’s Party (EPP), which deliberately didn’t field its own candidate for the Eurogroup race to keep political peace with socialists in Brussels.
Mr Centeno remains favourite but Mr Kažimír’s candidacy will reduce his odds, as finance ministers could be forced to vote in several rounds before the final winner emerges Monday after their monthly meeting in Brussels.