The EU's poorest country is joining the eurozone. Poland isn't even knocking on the door.

• On July 8, the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) approved Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone from January 1, 2026.
• Bulgaria's integration into the European monetary system began in 1997, when the Bulgarian lev was pegged to the German mark, and two years later to the euro.
• The Polish government is not presenting any strategy for integration within the eurozone. Polish businesses may demand action on this matter in the future.

The decision to admit Bulgaria has been postponed before. The country was originally scheduled to adopt the euro in 2025. However, the European Commission then deemed Sofia not yet ready. In its 2024 assessment, the EC acknowledged that Bulgaria does not meet all the conditions for eurozone membership.

"Nevertheless, we maintain a constructive dialogue with Bulgaria and appreciate its continued commitment to joining the eurozone once it meets all the criteria. Bulgaria also has the option to request a specialist assessment to assess compliance with the convergence criteria once it considers it has met them," explained European Commission spokeswoman Veerle Nuyts.

On July 8, the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) approved Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone from January 1, 2026.

"Earlier reports by the European Commission and the European Central Bank confirmed that Sofia meets all convergence criteria and demonstrates stability of prices, public finances, interest rates, and exchange rate. The biggest challenge was dealing with inflation, the average level of which for the last 12 months ultimately amounted to 2.7% – with the threshold of 2.8%. Bulgaria formally began its efforts to adopt the euro in 2018, and since 2020 it has been participating in the ERM II mechanism," reads an analysis by the Centre for Eastern Studies.

Bulgaria joins the euro, but internal problems remain

"Adopting the European currency has become another element of the ideological rivalry for the soul of Bulgarian citizenship. In the sense that nationalist groups and those unequivocally supported and financed by Russia have spoken out against the common currency," emphasized Dr. Spasimir Domaradzki, a political scientist associated with the University of Warsaw, in an interview with WNP.

"Three nationalist parties – Odrodzenie, Miecz, and Majestat – are strongly opposed to adopting the euro. They hold a sovereignist stance, viewing the left as the last bastion of independence from the EU and a guarantee of price stability. They are also spreading false information about the consequences of introducing the common currency. They also claim that the government has manipulated statistical data in order to meet the convergence criteria. Currently, the combined support for these parties is around 20%, but it cannot be ruled out that it will increase. The radicals may gain popularity especially in the first months of 2026, when a temporary price increase is expected after the introduction of the euro," reads the OSW analysis.

"The critical attitude towards the euro in Bulgaria hasn't emerged in recent years or months, but has been simmering since the second decade of the 21st century," notes Spasimir Domaradzki, claiming that even then, various attempts were made to prevent the adoption of the euro, including attempts to hold a referendum to mobilize opponents of the common European currency.

"Over 500,000 signatures were collected. Considering that Bulgaria has a population of 6 million , it can be said that this mobilization was quite effective. However, this is definitely not the majority of the country," emphasizes the expert from the University of Warsaw. "In turn, the national authorities took the position that a referendum cannot be held on an issue in which the Bulgarian state has undertaken international obligations," he explains.

The Paradox in Bulgaria Regarding the Identity Approach to Currency

The expert adds that nationalist groups raised issues related to the loss of sovereignty or identity that the Bulgarian lev would symbolize.

And here another paradox of Bulgarian reality becomes apparent. Even if we accept that a national currency is, in a sense, a defining characteristic of a state, indicating its independence, the ability to print its own currency, and pursue an independent monetary policy, this has not been the case in Bulgaria since 1997. This is because the Bulgarian lev was rigidly pegged first to the German mark, and then to the euro after its introduction. This essentially meant that the Bulgarian currency de facto lost its independence already at that time.

- The decision to rigidly attach the left to the German mark, and later to the euro, resulted from the need to seek solutions to the enormous economic crisis at the end of the 20th century. Bulgaria wanted to stabilize its finances, because hyperinflation was a characteristic feature of this crisis - emphasizes Spasimir Domaradzki in his statement for the WNP.

"Then, this rigid peg means, in short, that the state can only spend as much money as it has in foreign currency savings. This severely limits and de facto paralyzes the ability to conduct monetary policy, while still allowing for easy borrowing," he adds.

Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone raises widespread concerns about adopting the common European currency

Opponents of adopting the euro, whether it is Bulgaria, Croatia or Poland, raise the argument of price increases after adopting the common currency .

"Since adopting the common currency in January 2023, Croatia has struggled with higher inflation. However, as experts emphasize, the price problems were not the result of the euro itself, but of global economic shocks. The benefits of the eurozone outweighed the risks," Politico writes.

"Croatia was the only country that joined the eurozone under serious inflationary pressure," said Petar Sorić from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Zagreb, as quoted by Politico, noting that inflation in 2022-2023 was the worst since the 1990s, when the former Yugoslavia collapsed.

Poland continues to avoid the euro. Is this a mistake?

It's worth recalling that Poland is obligated to join the eurozone , like all European Union member states except Denmark. Poland committed to adopting the euro upon its accession to the European Union in 2004.

"74% of Poles oppose the introduction of the euro, and only 26% are in favor. Opponents are more often women (80%), while the older generation (55+) is more open to change (32%). The biggest concerns are rising prices and a decline in living standards (51%), more often raised by women (70%) than men (55%)," according to research conducted by the research portal Ariadna.

Poland is not currently working on joining the eurozone, replied the head of the Polish Ministry of Finance, Andrzej Domański, when asked about the prospects for introducing the common currency in the country during a meeting in Luxembourg on Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone.

"In my opinion, this situation is optimal. Poland does not currently meet the convergence criteria , so this discussion is really a substitute discussion," he added.

The discussion on adopting the euro also includes the division of countries into smaller ones, which can more easily adapt to the euro, and larger ones - such as Poland - which may have difficulty with it.

"In smaller countries, especially those without a floating exchange rate, the balance of benefits and costs of adopting the euro is positive. But in larger countries, like Poland, this is not obvious," Professor Beata Javorcik, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), noted in an interview with money.pl.

At the same time, the expert emphasized in her statement that there may be pressure from business on the Polish government to adopt the euro if more European markets adopt the common European currency.