site.btaPresident's Administration Criticizes Parliament’s “Lack of Will” to Hear Citizens on Euro Referendum

Responding to questions about the invitation for a Presidential Office representative to provide the President’s motives for a national referendum on the euro adoption to Parliament, the head of State’s administration said Wednesday that “this Parliament lacks the political will to hear the voice of the citizens”. According to the statement, the National Assembly has had eight months to review the motives behind the presidential proposal for holding a national referendum and to comply with the law.

Earlier on Wednesday, National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan explained that at 8 a.m. the same day, the presidential institution had been notified that the proposal would be discussed and that someone needed to present its motives. “If no one presents them, we will proceed to the debates”, she said. Several recesses followed, but no Presidential Office representative appeared in Parliament.

After the sitting resumed following its first break, Nazaryan said that she had made several further attempts to contact the presidential institution, but no one responded. She added that those motives have been public since May and that everyone is familiar with them. According to her, no one other than the submitter can present them.

On Wednesday, Parliament rejected President Rumen Radev’s proposal to hold a national referendum with the question: “Do you agree that Bulgaria should adopt the euro in 2026?” After a re-vote, National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan announced that Parliament’s decision to reject the referendum proposal will be promulgated in the State Gazette.

On May 23, Radev referred to the Constitutional Court for a binding interpretation of the Constitution and for declaring null and void the refusal of former Parliament chair Nataliya Kiselova, to table his referendum proposal to the National Assembly. On May 13, Nataliya Kiselova rejected it, arguing that it is inadmissible because it is inconsistent with the Constitution, the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, Bulgaria's EU Accession Treaty, the Act concerning the conditions of accession, and the Direct Citizen Participation in State and Local Government Act. On June 10, following Kiselova’s decision, the Constitutional Court admitted for review part of President Rumen Radev’s request.