site.btaLIK Editor-in-Chief Lozanov Says Euro Marks Bulgaria’s Western European Identity
Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone on January 1, 2026 was a historic event in which the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), through its LIK magazine, also have a place, LIK Editor-in-Chief Georgi Lozanov said on Tuesday.
Lozanov spoke at the Bulgarian National Bank in Sofia during the presentation of the latest LIK issue, Bulgarian Money, and said the move to the euro should also be seen from a cultural perspective.
"With Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone on January 1, 2026, a historic event is taking place and, with this issue of LIK magazine, we are somehow entering that history," Lozanov said.
“LIK is a magazine dedicated to literature, art, and culture. In my view, that perspective is crucial when it comes to adopting the euro. To some extent, however, the cultural dimension is not sufficiently emphasized,” Lozanov said.
He said that people tended to talk about money as part of everyday life, as a kind of social relationship. “But in fact, money consists of artefacts through which we ritualize our cultural identity, and it reaches everyone at every moment. The euro is a symbol of our European cultural identity. We keep talking about national cultural identity, but the Bulgarian nation is part of a broader zone of cultural identification. That is European culture, more specifically, Western European culture,” he said.
Lozanov said that, despite centuries of attempts to steer Bulgaria toward a Eurasian model of social development, since the Third Bulgarian Kingdom the country has been moving toward Western European development and a sense of belonging to that cultural sphere.
“There was a forced pause during communism, which has now been overcome," he added.
Lozanov said this was why it was fitting for LIK magazine to take part at the start of the debate. "And this is no longer a debate, in my view. It is a joy that has happened to Bulgaria... I am sure that, gradually, each of us, as unbiased citizens, will slowly begin to feel what it is like to belong in practical terms to the most culturally developed human civilization, which is contemporary Western European civilization, and with the euro it will be in our hands every day," Lozanov said.
LIK magazine’s Managing Editor, Yanitsa Hristova, said that, in preparing the current issue, the team used a book published to mark the 120th anniversary of the Bulgarian National Bank. The issue also includes a chronological timeline of key dates from the bank’s history.
“In this issue, readers can explore some of the key milestones in the evolution of the currency over the years: from the late 1940s, when certain Bulgarian banknotes were withdrawn and new ones were put into circulation, through the reforms of the 1950s and 1960s, to the introduction of the currency board and Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone,” Hristova said. In retrospect, the present moment appears far more orderly and predictable. “And I think that’s good news for citizens and can give them hope,” she added.
LIK magazine became freely accessible in January 2024. All issues since its relaunch in 2022 could be downloaded in electronic format from BTA's website. The December issue on Bulgarian Money is available here.
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