Civic association "Doyran 2025" has collected almost 200 thousand signatures for holding a referendum with eight questions on the eurozone and Bulgaria's membership in the European Union. The signatures will be submitted tomorrow to the National Assembly, announced the chairwoman of the association Rumyana Chenalova at a press conference at the BTA National Press Club.
"The forms processed so far are 150 kilograms – almost 200 thousand signatures. We will submit this figure to the National Assembly tomorrow. We expect the final number to exceed 200 thousand – we have achieved a miracle," Chenalova said, quoted by BTA.
The lawyer explained that the data is from Friday, but the processing of the forms continues over the weekend. By law, the deadline for collecting signatures is three months, and all forms collected during this period will be further processed and submitted to parliament. Parliament has about two months to review and verify the signatures.
The referendum includes eight questions related to the eurozone and EU membership. Among them are "Do you want Bulgaria to terminate its membership in the European Union" and "Do you want Bulgaria to terminate its membership in the eurozone". A third question concerns renegotiation of the terms of Bulgaria's EU membership.
Other questions concern the conditions for facilitating the holding of referendums in the country. Currently, 200 thousand or 400 thousand signatures need to be collected. The association proposes that the signature be 50 thousand signatures – as in Switzerland.
Rumyana Chenalova recalled that on July 8, 2025, the EU Council agreed to Bulgaria's admission to the eurozone. It was also agreed that the new currency would enter into force at the beginning of 2026, and the transitional period during which the two currencies would be used in parallel would be one month.
"Deprivation of one's own currency is deprivation of national sovereignty," the lawyer emphasized in the program "Delnitsi" on "Evrokom" television.
Regarding the claim filed by the "Doyran 2025" association with the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg, which challenges the decision to admit Bulgaria to the eurozone on January 1, 2026, Chenalova indicated that they are currently in the initial phase. The documents were handed over to the Council of the EU, which is the defendant in the case and has the right to present its opinion within two months.
She added that the authorities not only did not cooperate, but even hindered the organization of the petition. According to her, the state and municipal administrations - especially in cities with mayors from GERB - did everything possible to silence the initiative. In Kazanlak, acts of violation were drawn up and penal decrees are expected, which will be appealed.