site.btaPresident Frowns on Euro Referendum Proposal Rejection

President Rumen Radev is in favour of holding a referendum on the euro changeover in Bulgaria, although the National Assembly has rejected a proposal to this effect by the Vazrazhdane party. Taking a question by BTA on Monday, Radev said: "A referendum should be held, since the legal conditions have been met and the required number of signatures have been collected."

On Friday, the National Assembly defeated Vazrazhdane's proposal for a national referendum which would ask Bulgarians "Do you agree that the Bulgarian lev should be the only official currency in Bulgaria until 2043?". MPs who voted against the proposal argued that it violated the law on referendums and international treaties signed by Bulgaria. Vazrazhdane intend to challenge the National Assembly decision before the Constitutional Court.

President Radev commented: "It is not good for politicians to pretend that the referendum proposal was not supported by the signatures of half a million Bulgarians. The National Assembly decision shows fear, mistrust and disregard for the opinions of Bulgarian citizens. It is another thing whether the question should be formulated in this way. I do not think it is right to confine the process by setting any limits. Twenty years is an unacceptable deadline, it is too long. Politicians should focus their efforts not on looking for ways to prevent a referendum, which is the most powerful tool of democracy, but on convincing Bulgarian citizens that joining the eurozone is good for their well-being."

Reacting to Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov's stated confidence that the President would call a referendum on keeping the Bulgarian lev, Radev said he cannot set a date for such a referendum, because there is a National Assembly decision on the matter.

"Bulgaria should join the eurozone when it is really prepared for it, not when we want it to, and not at all costs. We should do it when we meet the deficit and inflation criteria by implementing prudent economic and fiscal policies, rather than putting the brakes on socio-economic development."

The President was taking part in the opening of the international Mathematics Days in Sofia.