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EU approves final steps for Bulgaria's Eurozone membership

Politiko 2025-07-08 17:43:06

EU approves final steps for Bulgaria's Eurozone membership

European Union finance ministers have approved the final steps for Bulgaria to become the 21st member of the Eurozone from January 2026, including setting the exchange rate of the Bulgarian lev to the euro.

Bulgaria will join the Eurozone in early 2026 with an exchange rate of 1 euro to 1.95583 leva. Sofia now has less than six months to prepare for the technical transition.

The Finance Ministers of the EU countries gave formal support last month for Bulgaria to join the Eurozone, taking into account the positive assessments of the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

The decision was also supported by EU leaders at a summit held in Brussels on June 26.

Bulgaria has been trying to switch from the lev to the euro since joining the European bloc in 2007.

But after a long wait, many Bulgarian citizens have lost their initial enthusiasm, and now the level of skepticism about the euro stands at 50 percent, according to a Eurobarometer survey conducted in May.

Some Bulgarians worry that the currency change will increase prices.

Bulgaria's membership in the Eurozone marks the expansion of this group for the first time in three years, as Croatia was the last to join it in early 2023.

Bulgaria's admission to the Eurozone means that only six EU countries, out of 27 in total, will remain outside the common currency area: Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Denmark.

None of these countries have immediate plans to join the group for political reasons, or because they have not met the economic conditions. /REL/

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