President Rumen Radev proposed a referendum on the euro, the Speaker of Parliament Natalia Kiselova rejected it as unacceptable

SOFIA/BRUSSELS – President Rumen Radev submitted a proposal for a national referendum to the National Assembly with the question “Do you agree that Bulgaria should adopt the single European currency ‘euro’ by 2026?”.

According to the head of state, although Bulgaria has committed to adopting the euro under the signed accession treaty to the European Union, the treaty does not specify an explicit deadline for its introduction. There is no consensus in Bulgarian society regarding our readiness to adopt the single European currency, nor on the date it should happen, as stated in the motivations.

Several parliamentary groups that form a majority in the parliament of 169 deputies declared that they are against holding a referendum.

The Chairperson of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselova returned the proposal of President Rumen Radev for holding a national referendum as inadmissible.

The proposal to convene a referendum will not be considered by the Bulgarian parliament, as it does not comply with the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, and the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria to the EU, stated the National Assembly.

At the same time, the Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova assured European institutions that membership in the eurozone from the beginning of 2026 remains a key priority for Bulgaria.

Despite the president’s attempts to divert our country from achieving its strategic goal, we continue active work to ensure that Bulgaria takes its rightful place in the eurozone, said Petkova to journalists in Brussels, where she arrived to participate in a meeting of EU finance ministers. She added that she had informed European institutions about the work done in the past month.

Joining the eurozone is extremely important, as it will allow Bulgaria to maintain its economic and financial stability in these extremely turbulent geopolitical times, noted Minister Petkova.

She added that the next important step is related to the convergence reports, which we expect at the beginning of June. European institutions confirmed their commitment to follow the pre-established schedule for the preparation and consideration of the reports.

Bulgaria is confidently moving towards the realization of its strategic priority – membership in the eurozone from January 1, 2026, said Minister Petkova.

Bulgaria can count on the support of European institutions regarding the adoption of the euro as the main currency, said the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in a conversation with the Chairperson of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselova a day earlier. (May 12-13, 2025)