Adoption of the euro or rejection of the single currency - a red line between MPs in today's debate

The Bulgarian National Radio gave a platform to four politicians from different parties, who expressed their opinion on the hot topic of the past week in the program "Nedelya 150" - is Bulgaria ready to request an extraordinary convergence report to assess its readiness to enter the eurozone, or not yet.

Here are the main highlights of the comments made, collected by Dir.bg.

"We will enter the institutions - the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers": Kostadin Kostadinov

If they decide to use false data to get us into the eurozone, we will set them on fire, said the chairman of "Vazrazhdane" Kostadin Kostadinov. If this happens, the Bulgarian people will take to the streets, he threatened.

 

"And we will do what a people does when their country is taken over by criminals and people who are carrying out a real coup. We will enter the institutions - the parliament, the Council of Ministers."

 

Unfortunately, we do not govern, but when this happens, not only the people from the NSI will testify, but we will also open the archives. We have information from people who work at the NSI, said the leader of "Vazrazhdane".

Kostadinov is referring to the inflation data that the NSI announces in the middle of each month for the previous one. It is known that Bulgaria narrowly missed the price criterion with the data for December.

"These people are declaring war on an entire nation. We will not tolerate this," continued Kostadinov.

The chairman of "Vazrazhdane" believes that "when you are in the eurozone, your own country cannot do anything against inflation". "We will not have our own money, because we will no longer print it. It is not our property. If the digital euro is introduced, we will become the property of some people outside Bulgaria."

According to Kostadinov, the destruction of the Bulgarian lev is death for the Bulgarian financial system, the destruction of people's incomes and savings. This is a crime and these people will be held accountable.

He threatened Vazrazhdane to do everything necessary to prevent the destruction of the Bulgarian lev.

Playing with people's fears: Ivaylo Mirchev

The conversation about the eurozone is going hysterically, "because it is being led by non-professionals, Kostadinov does not understand economics and is playing with people's fears," said PP-DB MP Ivaylo Mirchev.

Bulgaria should enter the eurozone, not because someone or some party is interested, but because it means more investments, more security. Because when we use the euro, it is more difficult for someone like Peevski to decide to bankrupt a bank, said PP-DB MP Ivaylo Mirchev in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio.

He rejected the thesis that Bulgaria is similar to Croatia (with high inflation at the moment - editor's note), because before entering the eurozone, the institutions there put pressure on business and held back the increase in taxes and regulations in order to keep the inflation index low, Mirchev commented.

"We are not doing the same, we increased our electricity only a few days ago. We have become complacent, the Energy Regulatory Commission is not working at the moment. If Kostadinov criticizes, he should give an example of Hungary, because it is in a worse condition than any country in the EU, without being in the eurozone," Mirchev noted.

According to him, even the institutions and the authorities are not trying to limit any increase - electricity for the regulated market, "an increase at a time when we needed low inflation".

The prices of electricity for households and gas have increased by 8% since January 1.

Let's demand a report when they won't reject it: Toshko Yordanov

Each party has certain goals and the report on entering the eurozone can be requested when the country meets the requirements, currently it does not, said MP from the ITN Toshko Yordanov, member of the Joint Governance Council and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Media and Culture.

"There is a difference between being closest to the criteria and being compliant. Inflation does not comply - "I will go into the red just a little bit". The rules must be followed.

0.1% was not enough to meet the price criterion in December - 2.5% showed the bill with the three countries with the lowest (average annual) inflation plus 1.5 at 2.6% for Bulgaria.

Yordanov drew attention to the budget deficit, which is adjusted in accounting and has a 18 billion leva gap. "If the partners refuse to accept us into the eurozone, there will be a delay in entry for at least two years," Yordanov argued.

"Is it more reasonable to ask for the report when you know it will not be rejected or to receive a refusal and a real delay?"

We will pursue the eurozone at all costs: Delyan Dobrev

The European Commission certainly has very big concerns about whether Bulgaria will be able to draw up a budget with a 3% deficit within 2025, noted GERB-SDF MP Delyan Dobrev.

"What we and the EC see is that the starting point of the deficit is 9%, not 3% - the 18 billion deficit in question, for which there is no longer any dispute, "The Change" (as Dobrev calls "We continue the change" - editor's note) are the only ones who continue to deny this deficit. With a 9% deficit, they will not let us into the eurozone. Therefore, it is better to try to reduce it to 3% and only then submit the request for a convergence report," Dobrev commented.

The stability of public finances is another criterion for membership in the eurozone. According to him, the budget deficit should be up to 3% of GDP.

The Eurozone is such an important topic for us that we will pursue it at all costs, no matter what contradictions may arise between the partners, emphasized the GERB-SDF MP.