Not everyone in Bulgaria was enthusiastic when the country joined the eurozone on January 1 - many wanted the lev to be preserved, notes "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ). However, the initial skepticism will probably give way to widespread approval over time, predicts Michael Martens in his analysis. Since the country clearly benefits from its membership in the EU, where it was admitted in 2007, and since 2025 it has also been part of the Schengen area.
The majority of the population is aware of this - most Bulgarians know what the benefits of the EU are, and parties such as "Vazrazhdane" with their insistence on leaving the Community or the claims that membership harmed Bulgaria's national interests, enjoy only limited support.
How Bulgaria overtook Serbia
The benefits for Bulgaria from its EU membership over the past 18 years stand out particularly clearly when compared with neighboring Serbia, which has a similar population, writes FAC. When Bulgaria was admitted to the Community in 2007, it was economically worse off and had a lower GDP than Serbia. And although Serbia has recorded significant growth since then, Bulgaria has managed to overtake it. In 2024, GDP per capita in Bulgaria was 16,260 euros, in Serbia - 12,640. The overtaking is also a fact in other areas such as average wages and purchasing power.
The German publication points out that there are many reasons for Bulgaria's faster development. Serbia also receives EU aid, but it is much less than the funds for member states. In July 2022, Brussels said that for the country, which is still considered the poorest in the Community, financial support of 11 billion euros is planned for the period until 2027, of which 4.2 billion for the construction and modernization of infrastructure in lagging regions.
In addition to these funds, EU countries also receive money under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, created by the EC after the pandemic. It provides six billion euros for Bulgaria, including 144 million for the third line of the Sofia metro, FACS reported. At the same time, Belgrade does not have a metro at all - although plans for this have been made for decades, they are unlikely to be implemented soon. At the same time, Michael Martens points out that recently the provision of funds to Bulgaria from the Recovery Mechanism has been delayed many times, as Brussels insists on the adoption of 22 laws to combat corruption and for better governance. Among other things, the EC demands that the power of the Prosecutor General in Bulgaria be limited.
The EU expects Bulgaria to implement serious reforms in the judiciary
The EU insists that the Prosecutor General can be held accountable if he refuses to open an investigation against influential suspects without good reason - something that has often happened in the past. When EC President Ursula von der Leyen visited Sofia in April 2022, she clearly stated behind the scenes that the billions would only be paid if the relevant reforms were carried out first, Martens writes. The progress made since then has led to the disbursement of a number of tranches of the program, the most recent 1.6 billion euros in December, we also read in the FACS article. However, part of the money earmarked for Bulgaria remains blocked due to incomplete reforms.
In front of the FAC, Vesela Cherneva, Deputy Director of the European Council on Foreign Policy in Sofia, stated that linking reforms in the judiciary to the disbursement of individual tranches from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism is very important. "Every Bulgarian government knows that there are firm criteria for what is good governance and what is not." Cherneva recalls the demonstrations in Bulgaria in December, which led to the resignation of the coalition government. The German publication notes that the protests were not least against the influence of the dubious oligarch Delyan Peevski on the government, as well as against former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. "The protests in Bulgaria have shown that the government no longer has much room for action when society and Brussels share their critical assessment of it."
The differences are increasing with each passing year
This is another difference with Serbia, where for more than a year now, mass protests have not led to any concrete consequences. But Serbia does not receive billions from the EU, respectively, the levers for pressure to implement reforms are fewer. One of the consequences is that the level of democracy, the rule of law and media freedom in Serbia is below that of Bulgaria.
FATC notes that thanks to the EU investment programs, Bulgaria has been able to sign a contract with the German concern "Rheinmetall" for the construction of a munitions factory, and even more important than all the incentive programs is the country's membership in the European internal market with almost 450 million consumers. This makes Bulgaria and its export economy more attractive to investors.
Serbia does not have similar access to markets. And although it has also recorded significant economic growth in recent years, this is evident. In Serbia, people still make fun of Bulgaria, but it has overtaken its western neighbor. Romania is developing even faster. With each passing year of Sofia and Bucharest's membership in the EU, the distance with Belgrade grows, summarizes Michael Martens. In other words: the EU has an influence - politically and economically.