Bulgaria’s former EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Meglena Kouneva, could stand in the 2010 presidential elections, according to a statement from the leader of Kouneva’s party National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, Hristina Hristova.

Hristova also said that Simeon Saxe-Coburg, the former king and prime minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005, would not be a candidate for the presidency.

Kouneva’s nomination had not yet been formally discussed in the party, but she is thought to be a strong candidate.

On February 20, Kouneva, announced publicly she had rejected EC Commission President José Manuel Barroso's offer to appoint her as head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA), the in-house Commission think-tank.

In May 2002 Kouneva, now 52, was appointed Bulgaria's first Minister of European Affairs in the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg. She continued to hold the post even after after the 2005 parliamentary elections when her party became a junior partner in the coalition government headed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party's Sergei Stanishev — the only minister of the former cabinet to retain her post.

On 26 October 2006 Kouneva was nominated to be Bulgaria's first member of the European Commission. Barroso assigned her the portfolio of Consumer Protection. She was decisively approved by the European Parliament on 12 December 2006 with 583 votes "in favour", 21 votes "against" and 28 votes "abstentions". She commenced her mandate as EU Commissioner on 1 January 2007, when Bulgaria officially joined the EU.

President Georgi Purvanov, the current incumbent, assumed office in January 2002 and was re-elected in October 2006 after he defeated far-right rival Volen Siderov, the leader of Ataka.