Krisitna Tsabala is an Analyst at the Counterintuitive Institute, Bulgaria and a PhD candidate at Queen Mary, University of London.
At the onset of Bulgaria becoming the 21st country to adopt the euro as a national currency, the country’s government faces a populist backlash from far-right and pro-Russian parties. These groups mix fears of a critical increase in inflation and rising poverty levels with conspiratorial disinformation narratives across social media. This is done to hijack public distrust and dissatisfaction and gain more popularity.
On 8th July, the European Council voted in favour of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone after the European Central Bank positively assessed Sofia’s application to use the shared currency. However, the government faces a populist backlash against adopting the euro that is based on fears of inflation and poverty, mingled with disinformation from far-right and pro-Russian parties on social media. Three radical-right parties (Revival, Sword and Greatness) hope that their popularity may grow thanks to their principal opposition to the accession to the Eurozone. The majority of MPs from the populist and anti-establishment party There is Such a People (ITN) also staunchly oppose the currency change even though it is part of the government driving the process. Today the combined support of these parties exceeds 30%.
Moreover, the euro issue provokes intense emotions on the Bulgarian political scene. In June, shortly after the publication of the Convergence Report by the European Central Bank, MPs from Revival physically attacked deputies of the pro-European liberal opposition Continuing the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) in parliament. This was the sixth consecutive violent incident caused by Revival deputies since they first entered parliament in November 2021.
Public opinion and political elite
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when adopting the euro entered the political discourse, the lack of information regarding the euro accession process, as well as its long-term benefits and prevention mechanisms regarding possible negative effects, nurtured an information vacuum that was filled by far-right marginal groups. These were led by Revival in their efforts to weaponise disinformation.
Fear of the unknown, a lack of knowledge on complex political and economic processes, and low media literacy rates created a favourable environment for disinformation narratives. Social media content produced by Eurosceptics, conspiracy believers and pro-Russia supporters across YouTube and TikTok has gathered more than a million and a half views from a country with a population of less than 6.4 million.
The EU’s multi-country Eurobarometer survey released in May showed that 51% of Bulgarians are against the adoption of the euro, while 43% are in favour. In contrast, trust in the euro continues to grow across the Eurozone (83%). According to another opinion poll from May, only 33% of surveyed Bulgarians think that the euro will bring more benefits, while almost the same number claim that it will lead to more negative consequences. A significant portion of surveyed Bulgarians, namely 65%, state that the most important issue is who will be responsible for fraud inspections and control. At the same time, an opinion poll from July revealed that 55% of surveyed Bulgarians do not feel informed about the euro.
Nevertheless, a majority among the Bulgarian political elite has prioritised stronger integration with the EU, meaning joining both Schengen and the Eurozone. In the midst of a political crisis marked by seven consecutive parliamentary elections (2021-2024), the objective to join the Eurozone was the only subject that united the two key parties of the right and the left – Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Regardless of BSP’s traditional Euroscepticism and pro-Russian attitudes, the party currently faces a critical crisis. In its attempt to reinvent itself, the majority of the party has changed from a negative position on the euro to become advocates for stronger European integration today. The socialists joined the government formed in January 2025, which made Eurozone membership its key priority.
“The battle for the lev is the last battle for Bulgaria”Revival and other fringe nationalist groups have been organising a series of demonstrations in the last few years to keep the Bulgarian lev and have even called for a referendum. Around a thousand people rallied against the euro in the capital in February 2025, urging a referendum on whether to transition from the lev to the euro. The protest escalated into violent outbursts in front of the Sofia office of the European Commission as protesters threw red paint and firecrackers at the building. A door was also set ablaze during this incident. Four MPs from Revival were charged with vandalism for the desecration of the EU building. In June, a group of protesters blocked the road around the Bulgarian National Bank and the National Assembly for 10 days. The demonstrations also involved burning and destroying EU flags. However, an ad hocparliamentary majority comprised of the far right and two of the pro-euro parties, Boyko Borisov’s GERB (Borisov was the prime minister of the country between 2009-2013, 2016-2017 and 2017-2021) and DPS – New Beginning led by the media mogul and oligarch Delyan Peevski, voted in the National Assembly to maintain legal immunity for deputies so that the prosecution could not start judicial proceedings. The last major protest, which was promoted through billboard advertisements in major cities, took place on 13th September. The protest for keeping the lev also called for the disbandment of both the National Assembly and the government.
In May 2025, President Rumen Radev encouraged anti-euro voices by proposing in parliament a referendum on whether the citizens agreed to adopt the euro in January 2026. Moreover, opinion polls published in May showed that 59% of surveyed Bulgarians support the president’s initiative for a referendum, while he continues to be the most approved politician with over 40% support. The president’s proposal was backed up by the pro-Russian populist voices of Revival, ITN, Greatness and Sword. However, it was successfully turned down by the pro-European majority in parliament, claiming that the referendum was unconstitutional as it violates the Treaty of Accession concluded between Bulgaria and the European Union. The pro-European ruling parties accused Radev of acting in favour of Russia with his last-minute attempt to sabotage any adoption of the euro. The president continuously criticises the government by saying that it is not implementing social packages to compensate for the economic shock expected with the currency transition. He has also claimed that Bulgarian institutions are not able to prevent price speculation.
Revival’s long-term anti-euro campaigns date back to 2022 with their efforts to gather signatures for a referendum to postpone the adoption of the euro all the way to 2043. The party claimed that the decision to change the currency should be made by the people and not by the politicians. Other populist groups such as Greatness and Sword have also called for a referendum on the euro. Revival managed to gather over 590,000 signatures (9% of all eligible voters). According to the Bulgarian Constitution, if a petition for a referendum gathers more than 400,000 signatures, the government is obliged to conduct it. However, a majority in the National Assembly voted in line with the idea that a referendum was unconstitutional. This was argued on the same grounds justifying the rejection of the president’s initiative in May 2025.
The EU’s annexation of Bulgaria
Disinformation concerning the Eurozone is a key part of the general anti-EU and anti-Western narratives that are fuelled by the far-right and populist parties in Bulgarian society. These actors present themselves as protectors of Bulgarian culture and the economy. Once all their efforts for a referendum failed, they claimed that they will initiate a process of leaving the euro once they come to power.
The main arguments used against the shared currency stemmed from the Polish, Hungarian and Czech examples. Anti-euro pseudo-economists have stated that Bulgaria should learn from the policies of such strong and developed economies that have avoided using the euro. These arguments also include an admiration of Orban’s Hungarian hybrid regime, as well as the nationalist populist government of the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) (2015-2023).
When it comes to economic concerns, a critical argument based on misinformation is that all states have reported a rise in inflation after the transition, with a particular reference to Croatia. Many of the Eurosceptics claim that Croatia has reported only a small rise in inflation because the official economic data has been subject to manipulation. Other fabricated claims spread on social media (Instagram, X, TikTok and Facebook) by far-right representatives are:
– Adopting the euro will increase poverty because prices will still possess the same numerical value (instead of being adjusted) while salaries will be cut in half.
– By adopting the euro, EU institutions will be able to confiscate people’s savings and pension funds to use them for military projects. This line of thought has been popularized especially by Rada Laykova, an MEP from Revival and the Europe of Sovereign Nations parliamentary group.
– The move to digital cash flows or a ‘digital euro’ will allow the European Central Bank to control Bulgarians’ spending, as it will give the organisation the ability to freeze bank accounts on a whim.
– The exchange rate between the lev and euro during the transition will be different from the existing one (1.95583 leva for 1 euro) and less profitable for Bulgarians.
Due to the efforts made since early 2025 by the Bulgarian Central Bank, the finance ministry, business associations, trade unions and authoritative economists to point out the benefits of joining the euro, the disinformation narratives have moved away from talking about economic detail. The new narratives revolve around an idea that the European Union is a ‘coloniser’, having become a totalitarian regime that is stripping Bulgaria of its independence. This is supposedly done with the aim of taking away the country’s resources to use them in the ongoing standoff with Russia. Kostadin Kostadinov, the leader of Revival, has described the decision of the European Commission to welcome Bulgaria into the Eurozone as an “annexation”, claiming that this decision is against the will of the people. According to Kostadinov, the imposition of the euro on Bulgarians mimics the colonization mechanisms pursued by the British Empire, in which colonies used a shared currency of the British pound but with their own symbols.
A springboard for the far right?
The most recent opinion polls conducted by Gallup and published in July 2025 show that GERB has maintained the highest approval rating among citizens (27%). The other pro-euro parties enjoy the combined support of around 40% of voters. However, the approval rate of the anti-Euro, far-right and populist parties (Revival, Sword, Greatness and ITN) exceeds 30% in total. Moreover, support for the fringe radical parties – Sword and Greatness – is on the rise regardless of the leaders of the party being accused of criminal activities. Finally, it is possible in the coming months that the far-right and populist parties will increase their support even further in the face of rising inflation over consumer prices. The popularity of the pro-euro parties will potentially continue to experience a negative trend. Once the accession to the Eurozone is accomplished in January 2026, it is unlikely that the current government will see through its four-year term. Likewise, the talking points of the radical right will undergo significant changes once the subject of the Eurozone becomes an agenda upon which they cannot act. Nevertheless, in the case of snap elections, the anti-Euro campaign may turn out to serve as a springboard for the far right, which may achieve its best results ever in the history of Bulgaria.
Edited by Adam Balcer
