site.btaElaborating on Euro Referendum Proposal, President Insists Government's Commitment to Bulgarian Citizens Should Be Overriding

Elaborating on his own proposal for Bulgaria to hold a referendum on the adoption of the euro, President Rumen Radev explained to journalists in Krichim on Saturday why his stance seems to differ from his earlier view on the need for such a referendum.

He said: “The Bulgarian governments have been bound by a treaty signed with the European Union, but we should remember that their overriding commitment is to the Bulgarian citizens. When you ask for an ad hoc convergence report in connection with [a planned] euro [changeover] while at the same time the measures to protect the purchasing power of the Bulgarian citizens and the competitiveness of Bulgarian business boil down to little more than declarations, tension inevitably rises among the people and public confidence in the incumbents declines. At such a moment, it is best for the incumbents, who claim that with the adoption of the euro they will protect the interests of the Bulgarian citizens, to seek the support of these very citizens.”