Slovakia’s Sefcovic seeking nomination to head European Commission

Slovak Maros Sefcovic, a deputy head at the European Union’s executive arm responsible for energy, announced his bid to head the European Commission on Monday. Sefcovic, 52, is seeking the nomination of the EU parliament’s second-biggest party, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The Moscow-educated diplomat, who has worked in Brussels since 2004, said during his announcement that politicians need to work to understand why more Europeans are responding to far-right messages, and seek to unite the states in the east, west, north and south of the bloc, Reuters reports. “We have to get rid of barbed-wire fences in our minds,” Sefcovic said, alluding to his youth behind the Iron Curtain. The current head of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will step down next year. His successor must be agreed by leaders of EU member states following elections to the European Parliament next May.