Bulgaria has announced that it is fully prepared to adopt the euro starting from January 1, 2026, and will request an extraordinary assessment from European institutions to facilitate its entry into the eurozone.
The government in Sofia made the declaration on Tuesday, citing its compliance with the Maastricht criteria, the economic benchmarks required for eurozone membership. “Today is a great day for Bulgaria. We fully meet the criteria for the eurozone. We have no hesitation,” said Delyan Dobrev, chairman of the parliament’s finance committee and a representative of the ruling GERB party.
As the European Union’s poorest member state, Bulgaria has made significant strides in meeting the eurozone entry requirements. The country has maintained low public debt and kept its budget deficit below the 3% threshold.
The final hurdle was reducing inflation, which now stands at 2.6% for the first nine months of the year, according to Eurostat data published on Monday. The figure is just slightly above the Maastricht criterion of 2.53%, but the Bulgarian government argues that the deviation is negligible and that the condition has been met.
Requesting extraordinary assessment
The Bulgarian government has authorised Finance Minister Asen Vassilev and the governor of the Bulgarian National Bank to formally request convergence reports from the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB). The reports will assess Bulgaria’s economic readiness for euro adoption.
Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov expressed confidence in Bulgaria’s preparedness, stating that the convergence report is expected to be released in early June.
The pro-European opposition coalition, We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB), has also endorsed the government’s assessment. MP Martin Dimitrov emphasised the importance of moving forward with the euro adoption process and called for the implementation of measures to reduce spending and reform public administration in the 2025 budget.
Bulgaria’s push to join the eurozone comes amid protests by the Vazrazhdane (Revival) party, which opposes euro adoption. On Saturday, the party’s supporters protested at the European Commission building in Sofia, leading to legal action against four individuals. Prosecutors are also investigating one of the party’s MPs for hooliganism.
The final decision on Bulgaria’s readiness to adopt the euro rests with the European Commission and the ECB, which will monitor the country’s economic performance over the next three months. If the convergence reports are favorable, Bulgaria could become the 21st member of the eurozone, marking a significant milestone in its economic integration with the EU.
