Bulgaria: president moves against adoption of euro
Bulgaria is on track to join the Eurozone on 1 January 2026. On 4 June the EU Commission is expected to publish a positive convergence report confirming that Bulgaria has met all the accession criteria and giving it the green light. Now, however, President Rumen Radev has applied the brakes and called for a referendum that could stop the introduction of the single currency. The national press objects.
Democratically legitimated through seven elections
The Bulgarian service of Deutsche Welle refutes the president's statements:
“Radev argues that despite everything the numerous declarations of the democratically elected Bulgarian institutions on the issue are not enough. In his opinion, a referendum must be held because these institutions have little credibility. We have had seven parliamentary elections in the last four years, and in each of these elections there were pro-European majorities that wanted to convert to the euro. To claim in such a situation that euro membership doesn't have the necessary democratic legitimation is unjustified and manipulative.”
Pro-Russian Radev honing his image
Radev is trying to secure a political base for the time after his term expires next year, Sega criticises:
“At the last minute, with the Europeans on the verge of saying yes, he is trying to plunge the country's already divided society into endless strife. The only possible benefit of this referendum would be of a political nature: Radev would receive clear backing for his party project - which we've been waiting for for years and of which there is still no sign. And this project would finally no longer be identified as leftist, but as anti-European and pro-Russian.”