Ahead of the Convergence Report: Is Bulgaria Ready to Adopt the Euro?"

Several parliamentary parties have accused President Rumen Radev of populism following the Constitutional Court’s decision to initiate a case based on his request for an interpretation of the Constitution. The case concerns the refusal of National Assembly Speaker, Nataliya Kiselova, to put forward for consideration a proposal for a referendum on the date of Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro.

"The Law on the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria was promulgated by Decree No. 200 of August 19, 2024, signed by the Head of State, Rumen Radev. That means the date, the conversion rate—everything—was signed by him. Anyone trying to speculate will face the full force of the law. Look at the countries where the euro was introduced—prices have actually gone down in some cases. Here, President Radev is right about the impoverishment—because of the agreement he signed with his caretaker government, we are getting poorer by one million and 50 000 every day. And the end result is that the Bulgarians will be impoverished by 6 billion," said GERB party leader Boyko Borissov.

From the WCC-DB (We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria) coalition, officials assured that euro adoption does not lead to significant inflation.

"The experience from all other countries that have adopted the euro shows there is no price surge. The increase in prices is typically in the range of 0.2–0.3%. These fears are unfounded," said Assen Vassilev, WCC co-leader.

MP Ivaylo Mirchev (WCC-DB) added: "If the president is so concerned about prices, he shouldn’t have signed the BOTAS gas contract, which burdens Bulgaria with nearly 6 billion leva over the next 13 years. It’s hypocritical to commit the country to billions in obligations and then claim to care about the poor."

Kostadin Kostadinov, the leader of "Vazrazhdane", was of a different opinion.

"In every country where the euro has been adopted, there has been a spike in inflation everywhere. By the way, this thing was best seen in Croatia, where inflation jumped from 2 to 13% literally within a few days. How is it that we are going to enter the euro area and they want to force us in without a report from the BNB and the finance ministry. This is mandatory according to Bulgarian law, according to the law on the adoption of the euro," Kostadin Kostadinov said.

Delyan Peevski insisted that the powers of the CPC and the CPC should be expanded in order to solve people's problems.

"The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) and the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) must bring prices under control. You see the charlatans—especially their father—trying to mislead the people. He created one project of charlatans and is apparently trying to create another. It won’t happen. Everything must be brought under control. I urge the ruling coalition to urgently expand the powers of CPC and the Consumer Protection Commission to solve people’s problems. We need more staff to ensure effective price monitoring," Peevski said.

Ivelin Mikhailov, leader of "Greatness", expressed doubt that Europe is lying about the convergence report.

"Somehow Europe is lying about this report, which makes me doubt Europe itself. First of all we should be a market economy. We need the small and ordinary person to have free initiative, in Bulgaria this thing does not exist," said Ivelin Mihailov.

Ivelin Mihaylov, leader of the "Velichie" party, expressed skepticism about the credibility of the EU’s convergence report:

"Europe is somehow deceiving us regarding this report, which makes me question Europe itself. First, we need to ensure a real market economy. The ordinary person must have the freedom to act independently—something that doesn’t exist in Bulgaria today," Mihaylov declared.