Bulgaria Delays Eurozone Entry Until 2025

Bulgaria announced on Friday the postponement of its goal of joining the eurozone for the year 2025 and set a new date, due to political instability preventing the adoption of the necessary reforms.

“The new date set is January 1, 2025,” he said in press conference Finance Minister Rosica Vilkova.

Officially, this country, considered the poorest in the European Union, of which it has been a member since 2007, should have accepted the year 2024, but Bulgaria has witnessed political turmoil for two years.

With the exception of a months-long spell in 2022 with a reformist government led by former businessman Kirill Petkov, interim governments follow while major bills remain in suspended.

New elections are scheduled for April 2, the fifth since 2021, to try to form a stable coalition.

The minister said: “No compromise has been reached” in parliament to vote on texts relating to money laundering, central bank powers or even bankruptcies.

“Our European partners believe that Bulgaria is too late,” he added.

In January, Croatia became the 20th member of the euro area, seven years after Lithuania joined.