WARSAW, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Thursday he nominated Krzysztof Szczerski, the head of the Polish President's office, to become the next Polish Commissioner.

The announcement came after a bilateral meeting between Morawiecki and Ursula van der Leyen, the President-elect of the European Commission, during her visit to Warsaw on Thursday.

Szczerski, 46, has been a Secretary of State in the President's Chancellery since 2015, and the head of the President's cabinet since 2017. He is thought to be a close ally of Polish President Andrzej Duda.

A political scientist by training and a specialist in EU affairs, Szczerski has worked in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the European Parliament. In 2011, he won a parliamentary mandate running from the lists of Law and Justice (PiS).

Polish leaders have repeatedly said they are hoping the Polish Commissioner would get an economic portfolio, which they consider to carry more weight in Brussels.