European Commission: Dubravka Šuica Now Has Two Consolation Prizes

Author: Ksenija Puškarić

October 3, 2024

Dubravka Šuica

Tensions simmer in the Baltic, and what the radars show does not inspire hope that passions in the region are calming down. Allegedly, secret weapons are piling up in the Russian enclave in the Baltic, and the West fears that an offensive against NATO will emerge from that region. However, for the European Commission, the Baltic does not deserve its own portfolio, as this issue will be addressed through the Directorate-General for Security and Defence. In the new Commission, another region is significant enough, or insignificant enough, to receive its own portfolio, and that is the Mediterranean.

Perhaps the reason is that Ursula von der Leyen, the re-elected President of the European Commission, does not have as much expertise for the Baltic as our Dubravka Šuica, the Croatian candidate for the highest position in the Commission, has for the Mediterranean. Or perhaps Šuica has merely received a consolation prize. Just like in the previous term, when she dealt with demographics in the Commission and was the only member without a directorate and could not propose legislation. The only difference is that this consolation prize will now come with a directorate, which still does not mean that DG Mediterranean, as Šuica’s portfolio will be officially called, will be able to propose legislation. That is yet to be decided.

HDZ Rewards Loyalty

For Šuica, this is a jackpot! This former professor of German and English who served as the principal of a Dubrovnik high school where she taught and later was mayor of Dubrovnik for several terms can say that she has come a long way, as HDZ rewards loyalty. She has been faithful to the party for years. She was appointed as vice president in 2012, after which her career took off as everything coincided with Croatia’s entry into the EU and her departure to Brussels. At that time, the first elections for the European Parliament were held in Croatia, and HDZ’s list was led by none other than Andrej Plenković, and Šuica was on it.

It is worth noting that Plenković branded himself as the most ambitious HDZ cadre at that time as a Member of the European Parliament. He quickly realized that a prestigious career could be forged in the European Parliament, either for the needs of the political establishment within the EU institutions or for domestic political needs. Thus, he, with an unblemished reputation and, as it turned out, more importantly, from a safe distance, replaced the scandal-plagued Tomislav Karamarko in 2016 as the president of HDZ from Brussels.

Šuica has consistently followed both HDZ and the Christian Democrats’ policy in the European Parliament, so after the elections five years ago, as a cadre who does not threaten Plenković’s ambitions, which is essentially her primary political task and in which she excels, she became the European Commissioner for Demography. Just as she likely does not mind that her portfolio is again quite intangible, which is mocked by much more influential media across the EU, such as columnists from Politico.

What Šuica will actually deal with can be read in the printed and digital edition of the Lider weekly.

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