BRUSSELS — Johannes Hahn has been appointed as EU’s commissioner for neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations.
This new office was introduced instead of the commissioner for enlargement, that was until now occupied by Stefan Fule.
Hahn is considered a very experienced diplomat when it comes to relations between the European Union and the Balkans.
New European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has recently twice stated that the EU would not accept any new members during his five-year term in office.
Hahn will take over on November 1.
He is a member of the Austrian People’s Party and the European People’s Party, and was in the focus of public attention in 2011 for allegedly plagiarizing his doctoral thesis, which he defended in 1987.
