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Bulgaria will become the 21st country to adopt the euro on Thursday, but some believe the move could lead to higher prices and further instability in the European Union’s poorest country.
A protest campaign emerged this year to “keep the Bulgarian lev”, playing on public fears of price rises and a generally negative view of the euro among much of the population.
But successive governments have pushed to join the eurozone, and supporters insist it will boost the economy, reinforce ties to the West and protect against Russia’s influence.
The single currency first rolled out in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, and has since steadily expanded its reach, with Croatia the last country to join in 2023.
But Bulgaria faces unique challenges, including anti-corruption protests that recently swept a conservative-led government from office, leaving the country on the verge of its eighth election in five years.
While far-right and pro-Russia parties have been behind several anti-Euro protests, many people, especially in poor rural areas, worry about the new currency.
“Prices will go up. That’s what friends of mine who live in Western Europe told me,” Bilyana Nikolova, 53, who runs a grocery store in the village of Chuprene in northwestern Bulgaria, told AFP.
The latest survey by the EU’s polling agency, Eurobarometer, suggested that 49 per cent of Bulgarians were opposed to the single currency.
After hyperinflation in the 1990s, Bulgaria pegged its currency to the German mark and then to the euro, making the country dependent on the European Central Bank (ECB).
An EU member since 2007, Bulgaria joined the so-called “waiting room” for the single currency in 2020, alongside Croatia.
One sector expected to benefit in the Black Sea nation is tourism, which this year accounted for around 8 per cent of the country’s GDP.
