Germany’s Scholz backs Calviño for EIB top job

MÁLAGA, Spain — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave his backing to Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño to take over the running of the European Investment Bank next year.

"I worked together with Nadia Calviño intensely when I was the finance minister of Germany and it’s my perspective that she would be a very good president of the EIB," Scholz said Saturday at a meeting of top European Socialist leaders in Spain.

Germany’s public support to Calviño is a blow to the other major contender Margrethe Vestager, the Danish executive vice president of the European Commissioner who took unpaid leave from her EU job in order to run for the EIB position. There are also candidates from Italy, Poland and Sweden.

A decision must be taken by the end of the year when current EIB President Werner Hoyer will leave.

The EU bank hands out billions of euros a year for major infrastructure projects and is expected to play a crucial role in the rebuilding of Ukraine.

With the wind blowing in Calviño’s favor, Vestager also faces an uphill battle to convince Paris that she is the right person for the job.

At the meeting in Málaga, Scholz congratulated Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez who is on the cusp of securing a fresh term in government after striking an agreement that includes amnesty for Catalan separatists who participated in an outlawed 2017 independence push.

"I really appreciate that I will be able to continue with the good cooperation," Scholz said. The German leader said he had "intense" talks with Sánchez in the southern Spanish city on Friday.