Prices, like opinions, are prone to change. Bulgaria wants to join the eurozone but is facing domestic opposition from the far right. Protests in Sofia against the currency contrast with the high presence of the common currency elsewhere.

Far-right opponents of Bulgaria's planned adoption of the single European currency recently attacked the offices of the European Union's representation in Sofia, sparking outrage and condemnation, reports ATSH.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that there were "scandalous scenes in Sofia where our EU office has been vandalized."

"In Europe, we exercise the right to demonstrate peacefully. Violence and vandalism are never the solution," she added in response to Saturday's attack.

The Bulgarian government "strongly condemned" the incident, in a post on its official Facebook page.

The protest, organized by the pro-Russian nationalist party "Vazrazhdane" ("Resurrection"), escalated into vandalism when demonstrators attempted to storm the building and a Molotov cocktail briefly set the front door on fire.

Windows were broken and the building was attacked with eggs and red paint.

The crowd burned a photo of the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde.

Six people were arrested and 10 police officers were slightly injured as the crowd was dispersed with tear gas. An estimated 2 to 000 people attended.

Steady progress towards the eurozone

The current process of joining the 20-member eurozone is complicated, technical and extremely difficult.

In the days following Saturday's violent scenes on the streets of Sofia, the Bulgarian government's continued execution of the next bureaucratic step to join the eurozone was a quiet contrast.

On Monday, Sofia asked the commission and the ECB to prepare a so-called convergence report for Bulgaria, after data in January showed the inflation rate was 2,6%.

With fairly low inflation, the country believes it has met the final criterion for joining the eurozone: price stability.

The EU created its economic entry conditions to ensure that a member state's economy is ready to adopt the euro and can integrate smoothly into the eurozone without risk of disruption for the country or the currency bloc as a whole.

In addition to inflation and price stability, other key measures include sound public finances, exchange rate stability, and long-term interest rates, to assess the sustainability of the euro transition.

The Bulgarian government wants to adopt the currency by January 2026. Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told reporters that he expects the “convergence report to be ready by June.”

Strong resistance

However, the attack on the EU office in Sofia highlighted how opponents feel about this action and their vulnerability to exploitation.

Anti-euro rallies organized by "Vazrazhdane" date back to at least December 2022, and the party has campaigned for a referendum on the currency union.

Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and co-chair of the "Continue with Change" party claimed that the instigator behind the protest was the Kremlin.

Another influential opposition politician, the leader of "New Beginning", Delyan Peevski, described the incident as a "brutal provocation by a gang of fascists around the leader of "Vazrazhdane", Kostadin Kostadinov".

Four days after the attack, Kostadinov told parliament that the Bulgarian government was violating the wishes of the public.

"This protest was just the beginning," he added.

Wary of possible price increases, Bulgarians as a whole are in no hurry to join the euro.

According to a survey conducted by the "Myara" institute in January, more than half (57,1%) are against the introduction of the euro "in principle", while 39% are in favor.

Only 25,7% support membership in the eurozone as early as 2026.

Croatia, the newest member of the eurozone, adopted the euro in January 2023, amid much public debate about rising prices and the loss of monetary sovereignty.

Croatia's accession occurred in the midst of a price increase, not only in Croatia but throughout Europe, which began much earlier and had nothing to do with the transition to the euro.

Although official statistics show that the transition had a very limited impact on prices, opponents of the euro blame it for high inflation.

This is despite the fact that inflation has been much higher in comparable countries that have not adopted the common currency, such as Hungary, Poland and Romania.

According to an EU poll from December, Croatia is the only eurozone country in which more people think the currency is bad for their country (46% of respondents) than good (44%).

This compares with an average support for the common currency across all eurozone countries of 71%.

Hostility to the euro is nothing new. When it was introduced 25 years ago, it wasn't love at first sight, with many citizens even then perceiving the switch as an unwanted price hike.

In Germany, the currency was called "teuro", a play on the words "teuer" (meaning expensive) and euro.

But attitudes have softened over time, given the ease of traveling and doing business across borders without having to worry about currency fluctuations.

Sweden, long skeptical of the euro, has also seen attitudes shift. A referendum in 2003 saw 56% of voters vote against the euro – a figure that rose to almost 80% during the eurozone financial crisis.

Although opinion polls last year show a big increase in positive sentiment, going from 23% in favor in 2023 to 34% last year, a weak Swedish krona – hit by the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine – made it more expensive for Swedes to travel abroad.

Using the euro outside the EU

Evidence of the currency's advantages from non-EU countries is also evident.

The euro has been widely used in Albania for many years.

The Balkan country is a candidate for EU membership and mainly exports to markets using the common European currency.

Many Albanians living abroad also send money home in euros.

Kosovo, a non-EU member, has also used the euro since 2002.