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The European Commission has finally given Bulgaria the green light to join the Eurozone in 2026, making it the 21st country to join the single currency bloc.
“Today we have reached a crucial milestone on our path to join the euro, marked by years of continuous efforts and strict fiscal discipline,” Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told the Financial Times.
“The introduction of the euro will improve economic stability and create stronger fundamentals for investments and economic growth,” he added.
Brussels and the European Central Bank confirmed on Wednesday that Bulgaria had met all conditions for it to adopt the euro on January 1. Euro area finance ministers have to formally approve Bulgaria’s accession, but they are expected to do this in July.
Bulgaria’s path to joining the single currency bloc has been fraught with delays, as the country struggled with political instability and a populist backlash against the shared currency. It also previously failed to meet inflation targets.
The country has had seven elections in the past four years, with a succession of unstable governments that contributed to the delayed adoption.
“Bulgaria is meeting all the convergence criteria to become the 21st member state of the euro area which is indeed a major milestone,” EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview.
“It’s good news for Bulgaria, bringing tangible benefits for citizens and businesses . . . And also [shows] the larger euro area itself is strengthening and making greater international heft for the euro. It shows it’s a stable and attractive currency,” he added.
However, opposition to joining the Eurozone continues to come from populist pro-Russian forces in Bulgaria.
At a rally in Sofia over the weekend that saw several thousands protest against euro adoption, Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party, said: “Bulgaria has risen and declared: Freedom, we choose the Bulgarian lev.”
The country’s independent president Rumen Radev also proposed to hold a referendum on the issue — a move lambasted by government representatives as sabotage.
But Zhelyazkov, from the centre-right Gerb party, said that euro area membership “has its political dimensions in the complex geopolitical constellation. We consider it a tangible sign of our European identity”.
All new EU members that have not yet adopted the single currency have to show they have converged with other European economies to join the Eurozone.
They must show that inflation is under control and within 1.5 percentage points of the three Eurozone states with the lowest inflation and meet other benchmarks, including on the stability of their currencies and economy.
Bulgaria failed to meet the inflation criteria in 2024, delaying its accession by one year, but in April inflation slowed to 3.5 per cent, fulfilling the last condition for euro adoption next year.
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