site.btaVazrazhdane Plans to Lobby EU Leaders to Block Bulgaria’s Eurozone Entry

Vazrazhdane will ask the prime ministers and presidents of EU member states to block Bulgaria's entry in the eurozone, party leader Kostadin Kostadinov told journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday. They have been consistent in their opposition against the country's eurozone membership: tried to push through a referendum on the matter and held multiple protests, some of which have turned destructive.

On Wednesday, the European Central Bank and the European Commission both put out reports which concluded that Bulgaria is ready to join the euro area from the beginning of 2026.

“Tomorrow, we will send a letter to every EU prime minister and president, with an analysis of the European reports and a description of the actual situation in our country," Kostadinov said. He added that "yesterday’s reports were just one step in the process of what we call the ‘annexation of Bulgaria’ by the eurozone". "We will ask them to make sure Bulgaria does not enter the eurozone in this way,” he said.

According to him, it would take just one leader to oppose Bulgaria’s entry to block the process. “I’m not optimistic that this will happen, because we’ve sent similar letters three times already,” the MP added.

Kostadinov said the only positive element in the reports was the final assessment - everything else, in his view, was negative. “We’ve identified 20 major criticisms regarding the country’s financial system, capital markets, labor market, competitiveness, corruption, and judicial system,” he noted. “Bulgaria is not ready for eurozone membership, and the vast majority of the Bulgarian people do not want the country to join,” Kostadinov stated.

Regarding a different issue - a request by Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov to lift the parliamentary immunity of four Vazrazhdane MPs - Kostadinov commented: “If I were in [Delyan] Peevski’s position, I’d be seriously concerned about my safety. I see he’s taking measures already, because perhaps what awaits him will make his experience in Dubai feel like a light massage at a spa resort.”

It was not immediately clear what the "Dubai experience" refered to but a search with "Peevski", "Dubai" and "security" on the web yields many media stories based on hearsay and speculation about Peevski being beaten up by Russian-speaking attackers in 2021.

The proposal to include the motions to lift the immunity of the Vazrazhdane MPs as the first agenda items on the Thursday sitting was made by Hamid Hamid from the MRF - New Beginning parliamentary group. The request seeks permission to initiate criminal proceedings against Slavcho Krumov, Ivaylo Chorbev, Yordan Todorov, and Nikola Dimitrov.