There are only a few days left until the adoption of the euro as the official currency in our country - the finale of a long political and economic journey for Bulgaria. In a special interview for bTV, Solomon Passy - former foreign minister, diplomat and one of the key figures behind our membership in NATO and the EU - talks about the “incredible things“ that have become reality over time.
“My profession is to draw conclusions“, says Passy, returning to the moments when his ideas seemed impossible. This was the case with the call for Bulgaria to become a member of NATO, with the efforts to join the European Union, and today - with our full place in the eurozone.
In his office, a kind of archive of recent Bulgarian history - there are photos with the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, as well as footage from the signing of the EU membership treaty and the raising of the Bulgarian flag in NATO.
One of the most emblematic moments that Passy recalls is the inclusion of the Cyrillic alphabet on euro banknotes.
“22% of the letters on the euro are Bulgarian. This means that a nation with only 1.5% of the EU population is represented 15 times“, he emphasizes. In his words, this makes the euro the most widely circulated printed publication in Cyrillic in the world – with nearly 30 billion banknotes in circulation.
By joining the eurozone, Bulgaria becomes part of the “brain of the European Union“, said Passy. According to him, this is not just an economic, but a strategic and civilizational choice that places our country at the center of decision-making.
Among his bold proposals is that Bulgaria nominate BNB Governor Dimitar Radev for President of the European Central Bank.