On Thursday, finance ministers from European Union countries gave their final approval for Bulgaria to adopt the euro, as indicated in their official statement. This transition means that Bulgaria will abandon its local currency and adopt the euro starting January 1, 2026, making it the twenty-first member of the Eurozone.
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Rosen Yalyazkov, expressed his enthusiasm for this development in a post on social media, declaring, “We did it!” and referring to the event as a historic milestone.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Union’s chief economic officer, noted that joining the Eurozone represents far more than simply exchanging the Bulgarian Lev for the euro. It aims to create a more prosperous and sustainable future for Bulgaria and its citizens. However, recent surveys indicate that nearly half of Bulgarians oppose the adoption of the euro.
A report published on Wednesday, following a request from Sofia, determined that Bulgaria meets the necessary criteria for adopting the euro. These criteria cover various economic factors such as price stability, public financial safety, stability of the national currency (Lev), and interest rates that closely align with those of other EU nations.
The euro was established as a unified currency for electronic transactions on January 1, 1999, but it only became tangible in 2002 with the introduction of coins and banknotes. Initially, it replaced the national currencies of twelve EU member states, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, followed by the addition of eight more countries: Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Croatia.