site.btaDeputy Prime Minister Donchev: Fears about Euro Will Be Overcome Within Months

All fears about the introduction of the euro will be overcome within a month or two after January 1, 2026, after which we will be left to combine the benefits, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev said during an information meeting about the introduction of the euro on Tuesday in Gabrovo. He noted that the country’s entry into the Eurozone is not a sure path to prosperity, but it is an opportunity. “This depends on us, and if we make use of it, there will be results,” he said.

Donchev said that when humanity evolves into a new era, when it adopts a new technology, or finds itself in a new political reality, there is always doubt about the new and nostalgia for the old. That’s why fears and prejudices are to be expected. “Every innovation comes with such fears, and in that sense, I am neither angry nor do I judge anyone,” he said, underscoring that this is where the role of the state comes in - to carry out an adequate campaign, such as the one currently underway, and to answer all questions.

Donchev described some of the debates on the topic as “absurd.” “The first fake news related to the euro that I read was 10 years ago, when there was still no political horizon for Bulgaria’s entry into the eurozone. It claimed that Bulgaria, in order to join the Eurozone, would have to mortgage its nuclear power plant and all school buildings,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Regarding the claims that the country would lose financial sovereignty, he noted that such a thing could perhaps be said in Poland, but in Bulgaria, this kind of sovereignty has not existed since 1997, when a currency board was introduced and the Bulgarian lev was pegged to the German mark. Donchev added that, in this sense, understanding the eurozone is a matter of cultures.

“The Eurozone functions just as the European Union does,” said Tomislav Donchev. He added that he had examined studies from the past two decades which, according to him, show that since the country’s accession to the European Union, GDP has increased fourfold in nominal terms. “If you remove the inflation accumulated over that period, that’s a twofold increase in real terms,” he noted.

Regarding the frequently asked question of why wealthy countries such as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein do not adopt the euro, Donchev said that none of them are members of the European Union.