Later in the same month, in preparation for Romania's accession to the European Union, he was nominated by the UDMR for a position in the European Commission (the National Liberal Varujan Vosganian was selected for the post, before being replaced by Leonard Orban). Speaking in February 2007, Frunda criticized members of his party for having failed to promote a challenger for Markó during elections for its presidency. Referring to the UDMR faction formed around Sándor Kónya-Hamar, Tibor Toró, and Péter Eckstein-Kovács, he argued its alleged policy of "not providing viable written-down alternatives denotes political weakness".