Bulgaria's nominee for the post of European commissioner for humanitarian aid faced a grilling at a European parliamentary hearing in Brussels on Tuesday.

Rumiana Jeleva, who is the current Bulgarian foreign minister, faced a series of questions about her financial interests.

Bulgarian liberal MEP, Antonyia Parvanova, came close to accusing the 40-year-old Jeleva of lying in her official declaration of financial interests, a formal part of her bid for a five-year term in the EU's executive branch, the European Commission.

Parvanova told the hearing, 'What Madame Jeleva said is, I'm afraid, not the truth!'

The disagreement centers on Jeleva's previous position as manager of the Bulgarian company Global Consult, which she says she gave up in 2007.

Parvanova says she has evidence that Jeleva still had ties with Global Consult in 2009.

Some MEPs distributed documents in the chamber purporting to support the accusation.

Jeleva said that her declaration of interests was accurate, and offered a separate set of official papers to the parliament to prove it.

The firm at the centre of this dispute, Global Consult, is a Bulgarian company specialising in information technology. It lists among its customers a number of major Bulgarian government ministries, including those of defense, foreign affairs and finance.

Brussels has often criticised Bulgaria since it joined the EU in January 2007, for its failure to curb corruption and organized crime.

Jeleva's bid to become an EU commissioner will doubtless provoke further debate in the near future.

The EU is currently constructing a new commission after the previous executive expired in December last year.

Each member country nominates one commissioner; however, individuals cannot be rejected by the European Parliament. Should MEPs disapprove of any individual, they then have the option of rejecting the entire slate of nominees.

Current Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, was forced to withdraw his initial list in 2004 after a parliamentary hearing rejected Italy's Rocco Buttiglione due to his views about homosexuality, which he had described as a sin.

The European Parliament is scheduled to vote on the proposed new commissioners on January 26.

td/AFP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold