Bulgaria hoping for EU Commission's green light to use euro

Bulgaria's hopes of joining the euro may receive a critical boost on Wednesday when the European Commission gives its view on whether the country has met the conditions for joining the common currency.

The government in Sofia announced at the beginning of the year that it was carrying out a new push to join the eurozone by January 2026.

Bulgaria has been a member of the European Union since 2007 and had previously planned to replace its national currency, the lev, with the euro in 2024, but the adoption was postponed due to a comparatively high inflation rate of 9.5% at the time.

The commission recently said it expects an inflation rate of 3.6% for Bulgaria in the current year and 1.8% in 2026, raising hopes that Sofia is ready to join the eurozone.

The criteria for joining the euro include price stability, sound public finances and stable exchange rates, among other conditions.

If the commission concludes that Bulgaria is ready to become the 21st EU country to use the common currency, the other EU countries and the European Parliament will still have to give their consent.

Within Bulgaria itself, the possible introduction of the euro has been accompanied by fierce protests.

The pro-Russian nationalist opposition party Vazrazhdane (Revival) called for a referendum on keeping the lev.

Activists collected 604,000 signatures in favour of a referendum.

The Bulgarian parliament however has twice rejected a referendum on the currency issue - in 2023 and recently in May 2025.