BRUSSELS — Divisive German civil servant Martin Selmayr should return to Brussels for the sake of the EU, Berlin declared Wednesday.
Speaking to POLITICO, Germany’s EU Affairs Minister Gunther Krichbaum said he would “very much welcome” Selmayr returning to the fray in a senior role. The veteran political operator is considering taking a job working for Brussels’ top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, despite opposition from powerful factions in the European Commission and in national capitals.
“If we already have civil servants who are playing at Champions League level, we should deploy them in the right place,” said Krichbaum. “That’s also in Germany’s interest, and it would be good for Kaja Kallas if she had him as support.”
Selmayr was chief of staff to former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker before becoming secretary-general of the EU’s executive arm until 2019. Since then, he has been posted to Rome as the bloc’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Selmayr met with Kallas’ top team in recent weeks, amid the creation of an influential new role in her European External Action Service that would see him represent the diplomatic corps in talks with lawmakers and national governments.
However, Commission officials have moved to derail that appointment, instead proposing that Selmayr be offered a role as the EU’s special envoy for religious freedom — a far less sensitive and influential post that would nonetheless facilitate his return to Brussels.
A German conservative with deep institutional ties, Selmayr garnered a reputation as the “Monster of the Berlaymont” during his time in the Commission’s Brussels headquarters.
His 2018 promotion to oversee the Commission drew condemnation from the European Parliament, which said the process failed “to give other possible candidates within the European public administration the possibility to apply.”
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