Merkel's EU appointee comes as surprise

BRUSSELS, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made a surprising choice by appointing Guenther Oettinger as the country's next European Union commissioner, analysts say.

Oettinger, the minister president of Baden-Wuerttemberg, has no EU experience and wasn't on a short list of expected commissioner choices that included Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and center-right Member of European Parliament Elmar Brok, the EUObserver reported Monday.

The publication said analysts don't see Oettinger, a 56-year-old economics expert, as being close to Merkel. The chancellor once reportedly forced him to distance himself remarks he made playing down the past Nazi connections of one of his Baden-Wuerttemberg predecessors.

Oettinger did not seek the position, and The Financial Times Deutschland reported Sunday that he feels he has been "dumped" in Brussels.

The EUObserver said Brussels was also caught by surprise by the appointment. A newspaper in Kolner, Belgium, reported that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso telephoned German politicians in Brussels about Merkel's decision, asking them, "What's all this about?"