Bulgarians protest government's plan to adopt the euro

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00:00The central square transformed into a sea of Bulgarian flags

00:04as thousands rallied to demand that the country abandon its plans to adopt the euro,

00:09a battle that people here see as the last stand for the Balkan nation's sovereignty.

00:16I'm here to stand up for our freedom, the freedom to remain Bulgarians

00:20and to preserve our national currency.

00:22Secondly, joining the eurozone is a one-way path.

00:25It's like entering a room with no exit.

00:27It's a trap in the sense that there's no formal procedure for leaving the euro area once you're in.

00:33The protest comes just days before Bulgaria faces its final hurdle on the path to eurozone membership,

00:40securing approval from both the European Parliament and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council.

00:46If successful, Bulgaria will adopt the euro at the start of 2026.

00:51All prices will then be displayed in both the current currency, the lev, and the euro.

00:56But the move is fiercely opposed by demonstrators,

00:59many of whom are aligned with nationalist and pro-Russian parties.

01:04Meanwhile, social media has been awash with misleading and forced claims about the single currency,

01:09fueling fears that the switch will bring higher prices and deepen poverty amongst other challenges.

01:14I'm concerned about joining a eurozone where financial decisions are often made without transparency.

01:22I do not want our financial resources to be used to fund wars.

01:26And I believe that the levels of corruption, both in Bulgaria and within the EU,

01:31are already too high for us to become more deeply integrated into such a system.

01:35Since joining the European Union nearly two decades ago,

01:39Bulgaria has struggled with political turmoil and corruption,

01:43factors that continue to drive euro-scepticism among much of the population.

01:47We're in.

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