Roumyana Zheleva's decision to withdraw as Bulgaria's European Commissioner-designate was described by Tsetska Tsacheva, Speaker of Bulgarian Parliament and a member of the same party as Zheleva as "the decent thing to do", Bulgarian news agency BTA said on January 19 2010.

Tsacheva, who was one of the few people in Bulgaria who described Zheleva's performance at her January 12 2010 hearing at European Parliament as "great", said that "as institutions we were obliged to give our full support to the Bulgarian Government nomination for European Commissioner".

Tsacheva noted that Zheleva's name had been cleared of all the allegations thrown at her before and during the January 12 2010 hearing.

As for reports regarding Zheleva's replacement, World Bank vice president Kristalina Georgieva, Tsacheva refused to comment, but said that this was a matter entirely up to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

According to Martin Dimitrov, leader of the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) party, Bulgaria had to send Barroso "a champion candidate who will dazzle both the European Parliament and European media". The UDF is one of the three parties in Bulgarian Parliament supporting Borissov's Government which is four seats short of having a full majority.

"We can't afford to make a mistake now and we want to have a discussion in which the Government must convince Bulgarian public that the new candidacy (Kristalina Georgieva) is the right one," Dimitrov said, and said that there should have been such a discussion before Zheleva was nominated.

In regards to Georgieva, Dimitrov said he knew her as a very good macro-economist.

Ivan Kostov, leader of the right-wing Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, also supporting Borissov's Cabinet, said that Bulgaria had to ask for more time so that Georgieva could prepare for the job of European Commissioner.

"Bulgaria has the right to ask for 45 days which would slow down the process of approving the new European Commission," Kostov said, as quoted by Focus. "Let's hope that Georgieva will get prepared quickly," he said.

According to Kostov, the Zheleva case should not be turned into a tragedy as such things had happened before. He sharply criticised the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) for launching an attack on Zheleva, and said that the BSP was "great in producing personal attacks and slander as they have sacrificed Bulgaria's interest at the expense of their internal party interests".

Volen Siderov, leader of ultra-nationalist Ataka party, who also supports Borissov's Government, said that Zheleva's resignation was an act of "dignity and honour which is something rare in Bulgaria's politics," Focus said.

According to Siderov, however, the fight for Zheleva had to go on as Zheleva had been subjected to an anti-campaign and her hearing at European Parliament could be described as a"failure".

Regarding Georgieva, Siderov said that she was a highly regarded specialist abroad and was up to Borissov to nominate her as Zheleva's successor in the EC.

Antonia Purvanova, an MEP from the National Movement for Stability and Progress, whom Zheleva blamed for spreading allegations against her nomination, said that Zheleva's withdrawal was a wise move by Borissov and a positive signal that would clear Bulgaria's image.

After Zheleva's poor performance, Bulgaria now had the chance to show its potential with the new candidate, Purvanova was quoted as saying by Focus.