Will we pay in Bulgaria next year with euro? Country expects the Union green

Sofia. Bulgaria He expects the European Union to soon approve its application for the introduction of the euro from January 1, 2026. This would be 21. The Politico portal writes about the topic.

After years of waiting, several representatives of Bulgaria expect the country to receive a « green » from the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) next week to join the euro area.

« The connection to the euro area will strengthen the sovereignty of Bulgaria. We will participate in the ECB’s decision -making process, » said Bulgarian economist and former Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pecans.

Critics warn of risks

The Bulgarian lion has been tied to the euro for decades, but the country had no word with the ECB decisions on monetary policy. If Bulgaria enters the euro area, the Bulgarian central banker will take a formal place in the ECB Governors.

However, as it will be only 13. The largest member of the monetary union and will contribute less than one percent on its gross domestic product, the impact of the country on interest rate decisions will be limited.

Critics warn that this step is not without risk. The adoption of a uniform currency could bring a minimum one -off price increase. So it was in other countries such as Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Croatiawhich initially recorded an increase in inflation after entering the euro area. This will damage especially poorer households in rural areas.

« Voters in the countryside are skeptical not because they were Eurosceptic, but for concerns about increasing life costs, » said Pekans, the main supporter of the euro area.

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President wanted a referendum on postponement

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev responded to these concerns and shocked the country when he announced in early May that he wanted to organize referendum on the postponement of entry into the monetary union. Constitutional Court However, this is unlikely to be allowed, because he has already decided that such a vote would be unconstitutional.

Radev’s proposal is not popular in parliament, where most of the Bulgarian parties support the adoption of the euro.

« It makes no sense that at a time when the nation should be sure that the introduction of the euro will benefit from the competitiveness of our economy, they introduced a discussion that actually manipulates people and instills fear, » said Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Željazkov.

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Bulgaria has met the inflation target

Sofia is currently on the way to meet the euro area entry criteria after reducing inflation to the target level, which has been one of the biggest obstacles to this process so far.

In order for Bulgaria to join the euro, the average inflation rate from April 2024 to April 2025 had to move within a 1.5 percentage point around the inflation rate of three EU countries with its lowest value. In 2024 it was Ireland (1 percent), Italy (1.4 percent) and Luxembourg (1.6 percent).

The average inflation rate in Bulgaria fell to 2.6 percent from 4.7 percent in 2023 last year. However, this year is expected to increase to 3.6 percent, which will be significantly more than estimated 2.1 percent in the euro area to 2025.