Comment by Daniel Smilov:
A big step for Bulgaria was taken on Wednesday: the European Commission (EC) recommended our country for membership of the eurozone on the basis of positive reports on the implementation of the Maastricht criteria. If the decisions of the EU Council and the European Parliament on July 8 are positive, as expected, Bulgaria should become the 21st member of the from the beginning of next year. This will complete the country's formal inclusion in all the most developed forms of European integration. As they say, we will be at the center of the EU, and not on its periphery, where our geographical location is.
In a normal situation, this news should be a reason for nationwide celebrations. In many public circles, it undoubtedly led to a serious mood lift. There were, of course, attempts by opponents of the euro to throw a little tar into the honey pot by organizing noisy protests, threatening a "war" for the leva, etc.
In fact, a signal for this type of sabotage activity was given by President Radev with his proposal for a referendum on the euro. Whatever the reasons for this action, one of his main goals was to really darken the joy of the fulfillment of one of the most important strategic tasks for the country - the adoption of the euro. And to some extent Radev and company succeeded.
With their actions, Radev mobilized supporters of the euro
At the same time, however, the protests and the actions of the president showed that there is rather no spontaneous energy to sabotage the euro in the country. People have to be driven by buses to achieve relatively modest mass gatherings in the center of Sofia. And public attitudes are also visibly changing: recent surveys show practical parity between people who support membership next year and those who are against; as well as parity between those who see more benefits and those who emphasize the negatives of membership in the eurozone.
The good thing about President Radev's actions was that it mobilized supporters of the euro and they managed to launch a serious debate in recent weeks. In this debate, it became clear that there are rather no arguments “against” - there are vague fears of dangers that are not directly related to the eurozone. Like rising prices, for example, which happen with or without the eurozone in countries like ours.
That is why Radev does not speak out about the euro itself, but goes along the line that “people were not asked”, they did not “have their say”. This is a weak argument, however, because Bulgarians are the only people in the world who have been asked seven times in four years in parliamentary elections what representatives to choose. And seven times they have elected solid, constitutional majorities of deputies, supporters of membership in the eurozone. Seven parliamentary votes in the last four years are sufficient democratic legitimation for the decision for the country to adopt the euro.
And the very idea of Bulgarians being asked every year “do you want to join the eurozone from next year” is absurd. Once there is a strategic agreement on the euro, the date of accession becomes a technical, expert question. And it is decided with reports, such as the ones we received yesterday. And with these reports, the questions of whether we are ready should be closed.
The eurozone is the least indebted at the moment
The opponents of the euro nevertheless presented some substantive arguments against it on air. Some of them, such as Rumen Gechev and Meglena Plugchieva, for example, argued that now is not a good time to enter the eurozone because it was very indebted. This is a strange argument, because the eurozone is the least indebted financial zone in the world as of this year. Here are the data on the percentage of public debt to GDP for 2025:
Japan - 216%
USA - 124%
China - 96%
Great Britain - 95.5%
Eurozone - 88%
Why central bank losses are not an argument
The strange argument with Another also quite weak argument against the euro is that the ECB had a loss of 8 billion last year. The ECB's job - like any central bank's - is not to make profits: it is not a commercial bank. It is a key regulator that sets interest rate policy, money supply, etc. Central bank profits are not an indicator of the state of the economy as a whole, but of some effects of their monetary policy. Central bank losses in recent years are an effect of quantitative easing programs and their slow tapering in the eurozone, the US and the UK. In economies worth tens of trillions, losses or profits of a few billion are insignificant anyway, but here are some comparative data on central bank losses by 2024:
Federal Reserve (US) - 77.6 billion (2024) and 114 billion (2023);
Bank of England - 45 billion pounds loss (from 2022 to 2025)
These losses are not an argument either "for" or "against" the euro. They are not an indicator of some economic drama in the US and the UK, and few have been concerned about this "problem". It is strange that the opponents of the euro have focused on them, apparently due to a lack of more valuable arguments.
Membership in the eurozone is associated with enormous advantages
The last "argument" against the eurozone, which is not worth discussing at all, is the claim that Bulgaria would almost have to pay the debts of Italy or France with its eurozone membership. There is actually nothing true in these statements:
1) In the eurozone, each country issues its own debt securities and is responsible for its own debt. So Bulgaria or the others cannot be held responsible for debt accumulated by another member country;
2) The eurozone has instruments with which it can assist member countries that have fallen into financial difficulties on their debt securities. They work according to the following mechanism, which was introduced after the crises of 2012. There are common stabilization funds of the eurozone, created by drawing a common credit and contributions, from which the troubled country is given low-interest loans. For example, the eurozone draws a common credit at 2% interest and gives it to Greece at 3-4% interest. Greece pays this money and in the end everyone wins - even the eurozone collects a small profit. This "magic" is possible because the eurozone is the least indebted major financial area in the world and has the highest credit rating (unlike the US, for example, which has recently been raising more doubts in the markets and among credit agencies). Greece has already repaid a large part of its loan to the eurozone and has been servicing its debts without assistance for several years. No country in the eurozone has paid the debts of the Greeks, although the leverage (ability to draw credit) of the eurozone was used to save Greece.
3) Moreover, membership of a country in the eurozone provides enormous advantages and financial stability, because in extreme and existential moments the ECB can stand behind it with all its financial power. When Corpbank went bankrupt, for example, our politicians immediately went to Brussels and Frankfurt to guarantee a stabilization loan for Bulgarian banks. With Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone, the ECB's stabilization mechanisms will be activated by definition in crisis situations.
4) The ECB also has other almost magical abilities to assist member states. When Italy's debt securities reached critical interest rates (nearly 7%) in 2012, Mario Draghi (then head of the ECB) stopped the speculative pressure with the statement that the ECB would not allow a liquidity crisis in the commercial banks of the eurozone. After that, the ECB introduced many programs for purchasing debt securities of countries on the secondary market (OMT programs), which also helped indebted member states. By becoming a member state, Bulgaria receives automatic access to such stabilization instruments and, above all, a voice in decisions on how and when to use them. From consumers of policy, we also become participants in its creation.
Bulgaria is on its way to realizing an important strategic goal. With or without celebrations, this must happen. The Eurozone is already on the horizon and seems very close. With a little sense, wisdom and perseverance, it will become a reality.