Set to become the 21st European Union member to adopt the euro, Bulgaria faces growing scepticism about the pending switch to the EU’s common currency. Scheduled to take effect on 1 January, 2026, the change will facilitate trade. Also, Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, will take a seat on the European Central Bank’s rate-setting Central Council. Nonetheless, Bulgarians disillusioned by widespread corruption, glaring income disparities and four-years of snap elections and short-lived coalitions, are increasingly questioning the benefits of “eurodom”, fearful that the cost of living will soar, just as happened in other member countries that made the switch to the euro.
A European Commission Eurobarometer poll published in May showed that 50% of Bulgarians did not support the common currency. Last November, a similar poll showed 46% opposed.
“When you don’t trust the institutions in the country, it is much harder to make any transition … especially when it comes to joining the euro”, Petar Ganev, senior research fellow at Bulgaria’s Institute for Market Economics, told Reuters news agency
Yesterday, the government committed to tackling practices that might undermine trust in the switchover. “It is important to ensure constant monitoring related to pricing, so that Bulgarian citizens and businesses can rest assured that no unjustified price increases will be allowed during this period”, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova declared at a news conference.
Central Bank Governor Dimitar Radev announced that technical and logistical infrastructure was available and ready to be brought into “euro zone” mode, and that the bank would assist the government with an information campaign promoting the euro.
As is, everyday goods in shops are listed in euros as well as the Bulgarian lev currency to familiarise consumers with the conversion. However, vocal political opposition remains strident. Thousands attended a protest organised by the far-right Revival Party outside the Sofia parliament yesterday. Demonstrators wavied Bulgarian flags and chanted “no to Euro colonialism”.
Bulgaria is the EU’s poorest member, with an average monthly salary of 2,443 leva (approximately €1,250).
