site.btaGovernment Enters “Euro Phase-In Mode” – Prime Minister

“The Bulgarian government is already in euro phase-in mode,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told a briefing at the Council of Ministers in Sofia on Wednesday following the publication earlier in the day of the European Commission’s and the European Central Bank’s convergence reports on Bulgaria’s preparedness to join the euro area on January 1, 2026.

According to Zhelyazkov, Bulgaria will be governed by several principles. “First, it will be a phased, calm introduction of the European currency in Bulgaria rather than a chaotic effort. The processes need to be calm, predictable and transparent. The second principle is to eliminate all possibilities for unfair commercial practices, speculation with markups and prices and abuse of the trust of Bulgarian citizens and consumers,” he said.

The positive convergence reports give Bulgarians a reason to be proud, the Prime Minister said. He recalled that in the 1990s Bulgarian society embarked on a path which had been a dream for generations of people in this country, the path to “joining the union of free and developed European nations.” This path went through moments of success – in 2005, when the EU Accession Treaty with Bulgaria was signed, and in 2007, when the country joined the bloc, he noted.

“This path went through many difficulties, a financial, banking and debt crisis, through political crises, a COVID crisis, energy crises. But Bulgarians worked unwaveringly, patiently, with much effort and assiduity, to gain what other countries couldn’t. We gained the recognition of fulfilled criteria, the trust and appreciation of EU institutions,” Zhelyazkov commented.