site.btaGERB Leader Borissov Speaks of “Operation Barbarossa” to Keep Bulgaria Away from Euro Area

Kiril Petkov, Nikolay Denkov and Assen Vassilev are an Operation Barbarossa to keep Bulgaria from entering the euro area, GERB leader Boyko Borissov told journalists in the National Assembly on Friday. The three politicians named by Borissov are ranking members of the opposition Continue the Change (CC) party. Operation Barbarossa was the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany during World War II.

CC plans to move for no confidence in the government. The proposal will be discussed on July 9, a day after the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is expected to make the final decision on Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area after the European Commission and the European Central Bank concluded on June 4 that the country is prepared to join the area.

Borissov said that Petkov, Denkov and Vassilev together represent “the last element” in the anti-euro campaign in Bulgaria. Another participant in the campaign, the far-right pro-Russia Vazrazhdane party, has acted through “destruction, protests, noise and provocations.” “On June 4, you saw several hundred people at the protests in front of Parliament, or maybe a thousand people, so much fewer than everyone else, and you saw they had no chance.” According to Borissov, Vazrazhdane, MECh and Velichie are in the same camp.

He said Brussels was puzzled to learn of the Bulgarian opposition’s intention to start working on a no-confidence motion a day after ECOFIN’s expected final decision. Bulgaria now needs to work very fast on the national Recovery and Resilience Plan, among other matters, he urged.

Earlier on Friday, Borissov met in the National Assembly with former US assistant secretaries of state James O'Brien and James Rubin and European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who are on a delegation visiting Sofia. “We discussed quite a few things of the past, quite a few mistakes,” Borissov told the media. He described Thursday’s meeting between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Ttrum at the White House as “friendly, promising and positive.” “This is very important, because Germany has always been an engine for Europe,” he noted.