site.btaDeputy PM Zafirov Sees Anti-Euro Protest as Attempt to Revamp Political Space

The protest against the euro is an attempt to re-format the political space, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov said on Thursday. “People should have no fear, should not succumb to political insinuations. All that is going on at the moment is more than just an expression of public concern. It has a political aspect to it,” Zafirov said.

He was discussing a protest in front of the ruling GERB party’s headquarters in Sofia on Thursday. The demonstration was led by the far-right nationalist Vazrazhdane party, whose leader Kostadin Kostadinov is a particularly vocal critic of the planned euro changeover in Bulgaria. On June 4, Vazrazhdane led a demonstration outside the National Assembly as Bulgaria received the green light from the European Commission and the European Central Bank to accede to the euro area on January 1, 2026. Kostadinov says his party is working for early elections to prevent the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria. Vazrazhdane is lobbying EU leaders to block Bulgaria’s euro area entry.

Zafirov said in his comment: “This protest is somehow trying to re-format the political space. From a protest against our euro area entry, it is turning – or at least an attempt is being made politically to turn it – into a protest against the government, which is not obviously producing a result, because we see it is dying out.”

Commenting on President Rumen Radev’s unsuccessful proposal for a referendum on Bulgaria’s preparedness to join the euro area in 2026, Zafirov said the time of the proposal was carefully picked. “It was made in the context of these attempts in order to gain political dividend from the whole situation and from the justified fears of Bulgarian citizens.”

Zafirov noted: “We acknowledge the people’s fears and the fact that, for many years, the government has owed a debt regarding the public awareness campaign about the benefits of joining the euro area. We in the Bulgarian Socialist Party have always preferred personal contact, meeting with people and answering all their questions face to face.”

Zafirov leads the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which is a member of the government coalition. He was in Pleven on Thursday for a meeting of the party's regional council.