Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleBulgarian parliament rejects President Radev's euro referendum proposal, citing constitutional violations. Government plans euro adoption next January.
(Reuters) - The speaker of the Bulgarian national assembly Nataliya Kiselova has dismissed President Rumen Radev's proposal for a national referendum on adopting the euro, saying it violated the constitution, the BTA news agency reported on Tuesday.
On Monday, Radev had suggested a referendum on Bulgaria's plans to adopt the euro next year with the question: "Do you agree that Bulgaria should introduce the single European currency 'euro' in 2026?"
His proposal was criticised by the government, with one minister saying it was an attempt to sabotage its efforts to join the single currency.
Sending back the proposal, Kiselova said it did not comply with several articles of the Bulgarian constitution and related European Union treaties, and was inconsistent with rulings from the country's constitutional court.
The constitutional court has previously rejected a petition for a referendum on joining the euro.
The government aims to adopt the euro next January, pending confirmation from the European Commission and the European Central Bank in June that all membership criteria have been met.
Economists say that Bulgaria, whose lev currency has long been pegged to the euro, would attract more foreign investment if it adopted the single currency and would secure credit ratings upgrades that could cut its debt financing costs.
However, Bulgarians are split on the euro's adoption, with concerns that it might lead to price hikes, similar to what occurred in Croatia when it switched to the euro in 2023.
(Reporting by Antonis Pothitos; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The main topic is the Bulgarian parliament's rejection of President Radev's proposal for a euro adoption referendum.
The proposal was rejected because it violated several articles of the Bulgarian constitution and EU treaties.
The government plans to adopt the euro by next January, pending confirmation from the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
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