Former European Government Leaders Have One Piece of Advice for Bulgaria: Hold a Large-Scale Awareness Campaign on Euro Changeover

Antoan Nikolov

At a conference on "Bulgaria in the eurozone, When?". From left: former Economy Minister Nikolai Vassilev, Austria's former chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, Malta's former prime minister and current MEP Joseph Muscat and Romania's ex-prime minister Adrian Nastase, Sofia, May 14, 2024 (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

14.05.2024 13:48

(BTA)

Several former European government leaders attending a conference on the euro changeover in Sofia, have one piece of advice for Bulgaria: to make sure it has a large-scale awareness campaign on the euro. The event is organized by the Association of Honorary Consuls in Bulgaria, CFA Society Bulgaria and the Association of Banks in Bulgaria.

The participants discussed the challenges and the prospects for Bulgaria related to the planned euro changeover. Among the participants are caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, Economy and Industry Minister Petko Nikolov, Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev and politicians from eurozone countries, including Austria's former chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, Malta's former prime minister and current MEP Joseph Muscat, Romania's ex-prime minister Adrian Nastase, Cyprus' ex-finance minister Michael Sarris and Greece's former finance minister George Zanias.

Wolfgang Schussel said that ordinary people need to be well informed about the advantages from the adoption of the euro. It will take a strategy and information campaigns that need to be led by the central bank - not the government - because people don't trust politicians. He said that Austria took a year to prepare for the euro and achieve a sense of confidence in society.

Joseph Muscat said that everybody in his country is happy with the euro and argued that it takes a very big and long campaign. It is important to dispel the fears of people that the euro will push up inflation and prices, and strike a balance between the economic and political aspect of the euro changeover project, he said. He also argued that the level of stability which the euro can bring to a small country is being underestimated, and said that the euro is an intangible asset which brings a huge added value to each country that adopts it.

Adrian Nastase said that the eurozone is part of a dream his country and Bulgaria have had for many years. The problem is that the EU has changed in the meantime. There are countries that would like to join the EU even now, but they have to take these changes into account.

He commented that the problem now in Romania is that nobody is talking about the eurozone.

Nastase pointed out that in 2004 his country was much closer to fulfilling the criteria for joining the euro area than now. Back then, Romania had not fulfilled only one criterion - as is the case now with Bulgaria and the inflation standard. At present, however, Romania fails to meet three criteria. "Romania has developed substantially but the government in Romania talks more about joining the OECD than the eurozone," Adrian Nastase said. Bulgaria is ahead of Romania in preparing for the euro changeover, he said adding that prices are stable in Romania, but there are problems with inflation, which are more serious than in Bulgaria.

/NF/