Bulgarian Parliament Speaker rejects President’s request for vote on euro referendum – reports
The Speaker of Bulgaria’s National Assembly, Natalia Kiselova, has returned to President Roumen Radev his request for Parliament to vote on holding a national referendum on adoption of the euro as of 2026, describing it as inadmissible, according to Bulgarian-language media reports on May 13.
Kiselova, a constitutional expert, is reported to have said that the request, submitted by Radev on May 12, was inadmissible.
The reports said that in a letter to Radev, Kiselova cited the constitution, Bulgaria’s European Union membership treaty, Parliament’s decision to accelerate the adoption of the euro, and Bulgaria’s law on referendums.
Radev would not able to refer such a refusal to the Constitutional Court. The court may rule only on decisions taken by Parliament, and cannot rule where no such decision exists, as the situation would be in the absence of a vote.
Radev announced on May 9 his intention to table the request for a vote on a referendum on the euro, sparking controversy, with a large majority of MPs opposed to holding such a referendum, including on the grounds that to do so would be unconstitutional.
Currently, Bulgaria appears to meet all the criteria for joining the euro. Pending convergence reports by the European Commission and European Central Bank expected on June 4, and subsequent decisions by the relevant European institutions, Bulgaria may join the euro on January 1 2026.
Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on May 13 that Bulgaria was moving confidently forward towards achieving its strategy priority of joining the euro from January 1 next year, in spite of Radev’s attempts to divert the country from this path.
Petkova, who was attending a meeting of Ecofin, said that the meeting had discussed Bulgaria’s progress towards joining the euro zone and Radev’s request for referendum.
On May 12, Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyakov called on the National Assembly not to allow consideration of the unconstitutional proposal for a referendum on the euro. Zhelyazkov also called on Radev to reconsider his intention on the subject.
Zhelyazkov expressed doubts about Radev’s intentions, saying that this was not about holding a referendum, by attempting to sway the European institutions regarding the upcoming convergence reports in June, so that Bulgaria does not become a member of the euro zone in 2026.
Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF issued a similar call on May 12, that Parliament does not even consider the proposed vote. On May 13, in what was seen by some media as confirmation of Kiselova’s refusal, Borissov said in a Facebook post that Parliament would not consider Radev’s request for the vote.
The referendum proposal also was rejected in a joint statement by Bulgaria’s four major business associations and by one of the country’s largest trade union federations.
The business associations said that entering the euro zone would guarantee accelerated income growth and faster achievement of the average European purchasing power values.
The Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions said that the ultimate effect of Bulgaria’s entry into the euro zone would be an increase in the incomes of Bulgarian citizens, decent wages, and a happier future.
The reformist We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition, Parliament’s second-largest group and among those rejecting the referendum proposal, tabled in Parliament a draft declaration reaffirming Bulgaria’s commitment to enter the euro zone on January 1 2026.
(Photo of Kiselova: parliament.bg)
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