NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, and European Commissioner for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič wait for the start of a meeting of the College of Commissioners at EU headquarters in Brussels on November 15, 2023. (source: TASR)
Maroš Šefčovič, a high-ranking EU official from Slovakia, has been ranked as the sixth most influential European who may shape the future of Europe next year.
The ranking of the 28 most influential Europeans was published by the weekly Politico on Tuesday, November 28.
The EU vice-president features in the “doer” category. Every politician received a label, too. Šefčovič was described as “Mr. Fix it”.
In the category of doers, EU President Ursula von der Leyen came second and French President Emmanuel Macron ended in third place. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan placed fifth, preceded by Andriy Yermak. He heads the Office of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, the most powerful European of 2023, as shown by last year’s Politico ranking.
French politician Marine Le Pen, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and UK opposition politician Keir Starmer follow after the EU bureaucrat from Slovakia in the latest ranking.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni was crowned the top “doer” on Tuesday night, while Putin’s banker Elvira Nabiullina was named the top “disruptor” for 2024. The Ukrainian president was named the top “dreamer” for next year. Donald Tusk was named the most powerful European on November 28.
As for 57-year-old European commissioner Šefčovič, the website asks: Is there a job in the EU that Šefčovič isn’t currently doing? He is described as the EU Green Deal chief, Brussels’ point man for Brexit talks, a man in charge of inter-institutional relations and foresight, and responsible for relations with Andorra, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland.
Politico also dubs him the “everything commissioner”.
The Slovak served as Slovakia’s ambassador to Israel and the EU before he joined the Commission in 2009. He is currently in his third term. Šefčovič ran for Slovak president in 2019, when he was defeated by activist and lawyer Zuzana Čaputová. During his campaign, he was supported by the Smer party, which returned to power in September 2023.
Slovakia will hold the next presidential election next spring.
