Bulgarian President sparks controversy with proposal for referendum on the euro
Bulgarian head of state President Roumen Radev has sparked massive political controversy by using a May 9 Europe Day address to announce that he will table in Parliament a proposal for a national referendum on whether the country should adopt the euro.
The relevant European institutions are set in the coming weeks to decide whether to admit Bulgaria to the euro zone at the beginning of 2026.
In his address, Radev said: “There is no consensus in Bulgarian society about our readiness, nor about the date of adoption.
“There are contradictory assessments at all levels of the social pyramid: in the political class, in expert circles and among citizens,” Radev said.
Inflation, the crisis of confidence in the political class, the lack of clear organization and convincing actions by the government to guarantee the purchasing power of citizens and the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy bring tension to the processes surrounding the introduction of the euro, he said.
“What is most lacking, however, is respect for the basic principles of democracy when making such an important decision. Institutions with critically low legitimacy are making a strategic decision for our common future without listening to the opinions of citizens.
“As President, I am convinced that the introduction of the single European currency can and should be done with a convincing national consensus. With the inner conviction of the people, and not with a dismissive disregard for their will. Every Bulgarian citizen has the right to speak out about their money, their well-being and their future,” he said.
According to Radev, the referendum would be a test of the democratic nature of the National Assembly “and will show who follows the principles of democracy and who denies Bulgarians the right to determine their future”.
“The referendum will be a healing one for Bulgarian democracy. It will give the people a voice and will allow all arguments FOR and AGAINST to be heard. It will also give the political class the opportunity to restore dialogue with voters and fight for their trust. Trust that it has lost in recent years,” Radev said.
The nationwide referendum will bring thousands of Bulgarians back to the polls, and Bulgarian democracy is in critical need of this surge of legitimacy, he said.
Radev said that the referendum would not be a precedent: “Other EU member states have also held national referendums on the introduction of the euro”.
The coalition government headed by Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov of Boiko Borissov’s centre-right GERB-UDF coalition swiftly sharply hit out at Radev’s proposal, including by citing a 2024 Constitutional Court decision that a referendum on the euro is constitutionally unacceptable.
The National Assembly, legitimately elected by the Bulgarian citizens, adopted all the necessary decisions for accession to the euro zone, Zhelyazkov said.
“And whether our country is ready to join the eurozone is clear from the convergence reports of the European Commission and the European Central Bank,” he said.
“The Bulgarian government is making, and I as Prime Minister will continue to make every effort to join the country in the euro zone. Because I am confident that in this way we will guarantee to the Bulgarian citizens the clarification and increase of the competitiveness of the economy, the stabilization of public finances, the lowering of interest rates, confidence in investors and many other benefits. But the most important benefit is that democracy will have no alternative.”
Zhelyazkov said that it is categorically unacceptable for Radev to draw his future political project in an electoral race with Vuzrazhdane and through Veliche, on the back of the future of Bulgarian citizens. The Prime Minister was referring to a pro-Russian and populist-nationalist party that oppose euro adoption and seek a referendum on the matter.
“This behaviour, with its unpredictability, has created bewilderment in the European institutions,” Zhelayzkov said.
Rossen Zhelyazkov.
“That is why, as Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, I call on all members of the National Assembly in the 51st National Assembly, who are convinced that Bulgaria must complete its path to full integration into the European Union by joining the eurozone, to prove this with their votes in the National Assembly,” he said.
Borissov commented on his Facebook profile that Brussels is alarmed by the head of state’s new position and called on the parties in Parliament to unite in order to reject a possible referendum decision.
“Here is President Radev’s game – on the one hand, he is still for the euro zone, and on the other hand, he wants to play with people’s fears, to play with political parties that have already submitted such a referendum, and thirdly, to break up the ruling majority,” Borissov said.
Boiko Borissov.
“I understand from Zhelyazkov that Brussels called yesterday. Bulgaria wants to be a full member of the EU. The National Assembly must reject this referendum. We always value the people’s opinion, but this is done before we enter the EU, the president knows and sees that the report will be good,” he said.
Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said: “Roumen Radev no longer has the moral right to call himself the President of European Bulgaria.
“With an act like today’s, we are even more convinced that the insidious hybrid attacks led by the ‘bowed head of state’ days before the announcement of the results of the Convergence Reports will not divert us from the ultimate goal – membership in the euro zone. There is a place for strong and courageous countries, such as Bulgaria has proven to be,” Petkova said.
The reformist We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition, the second-largest group in the National Assembly, said that such a referendum was unconstitutional.
“For our coalition, this referendum is unconstitutional, the President’s legal expert Krum Zarkov said so yesterday on social networks,” WCC co-leader Kiril Petkov said.
Kiril Petkov.
Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that Zarkov had announced that he was resigning because he objected to Radev’s announcement.
Ivailo Mirchev, co-leader of Yes Bulgaria – part of the WCC-DB coalition – said: “The president’s move is entirely dictated by the launch of his political project, and not by concern for Bulgarian citizens to be able to decide whether to enter the euro zone or not.
“We will not allow, not only the president, but also any other Russian proxy in Bulgaria to make any move and sabotage our country’s entry into the euro zone,” Mirchev said.
Ivailo Mirchev.
“Radev is counting on this referendum to ride the populist wave and announce his own political project and this is not good for Bulgaria,” he said.
Delyan Peevski, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning group, called Radev’s proposal so untenable that “we should condescendingly pretend it did not happen”.
Dzhevdet Chakurov, head of the Ahmed Dogan loyalist group Democracy, Rights and Freedoms, said that the right move is to adopt the euro, but they will still wait to see Radev’s motives.
“The choice was made 35 years ago, our Euro-Atlantic orientation is definitive, we have been in this position both when we were in the government of the country and in opposition,” Chakurov said.
The Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left coalition, a minority partner in the ruling majority, said that
a decision of the National Assembly to hold a referendum on joining the euro zone or specific deadlines for this action “would be an unconstitutional act that we cannot support”.
“We do not underestimate the fears and hesitations of Bulgarian citizens and therefore we insist that the government and the National Assembly strengthen the broad public dialogue,” the BSP – United Left said.
It said that it would continue to hold a series of talks and meetings with Bulgarian citizens in the coming months regarding Bulgaria’s accession to the euro zone.
“BSP-United Left takes into account the expert assessments and professional opinions expressed by the Bulgarian National Bank, Bulgarian trade union organizations, Bulgarian employers’ associations, numerous industry associations and a number of civil society associations,” the statement said.
“We believe that their analyses and positions in support of Bulgaria’s accession to the euro zone reflect the objective economic benefits for Bulgarian citizens and industry.
“We propose, based on the experience of introducing the euro in other countries, to begin accelerated work on a system of legal measures aimed at guaranteeing price stability and protecting people’s incomes.”
The BSP – United Left said that it supports “the government’s efforts to ensure that Bulgaria takes its worthy, deserved and full place in the EU through our recent admission to the euro zone”.
Cable television presenter Slavi Trifonov, who leads his populist ITN group from outside Parliament, said that his party, in spite of being in government, also is for direct democracy.
Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of pro-Russian opposition party Vuzrazhdane – which has made a succession of attempts to get Parliament to vote for a referendum on the euro, the latest of which was thwarted this week, said that Radev “albeit belatedly, has taken into account the calls of Vuzrazhdane and the sentiment of the vast majority of the Bulgarian people and has said that he will submit a request for a referendum on the preservation of the Bulgarian lev. We, of course, support this”.
Backing for holding a referendum on the euro also came from Parliament’s two smallest groups, Mech and Veliche.
National Assembly Speaker Natalia Kiselova, of the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left coalition, said that at the moment, no proposal had been submitted to Parliament for a referendum on the euro.
“That is, this is an intention. The President has the right to do so. But the way the issue was presented, without the reasons, it is controversial,” Kiselova said.
Natalia Kiselova.
“When the proposal is submitted, I hope it will be well motivated so that the President’s arguments can be substantiated. Since there have already been two decisions of the Constitutional Court regarding the powers of the National Assembly to schedule a national referendum on certain issues,” she said.
She explained the procedure that will follow after the proposal is submitted to the National Assembly.
“Since the issue concerns the competence of at least two committees – the committee on budget and finance and the committee on constitutional and legal affairs – within weeks I hope that the committees will familiarize themselves with the reasons in detail,” she said.
On May 10, responding to the controversy that he had unleashed, Radev said: “I proposed a referendum, not a party”.
“At the same time, the measures to protect the purchasing power of Bulgarian citizens and the competitiveness of Bulgarian business are reduced mainly to declarations, then the tension naturally grows among the people and trust in those in power declines,” Radev said, as quoted by Bulgarian National Radio.
“At such a moment, it is best for the rulers themselves, who claim that by introducing the euro they are protecting the interests of Bulgarian citizens, to seek their support. And why they are afraid to do so is another question,” Radev said.
Asked whether the request to hold a referendum was unconstitutional, he replied: “If you remember, the Constitutional Court considered another issue, with different content and wording.
“And in my referendum I am not saying ‘for’ or ‘against’ the euro, I only want people to express their opinion on readiness and the timeframe. And this cannot be done by just a handful of politicians and the EC. The Bulgarian people must be heard here,” Radev said.
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