Kristian Vigenin: Eurozone membership is not an end in itself, it is a means for Bulgarian citizens to live better

“Eurozone membership is not an end in itself, it is a means for us to be a modern, developed country and for Bulgarian citizens to live better. The same applies to membership of the European Union, that too is a means for us to develop faster and more successfully. It is not a question of winning the lottery in a few days, it is the result of effort to reach a goal. If we are to be honest, EU membership has brought us far more benefits than harm, whatever some people try to suggest.” This was stated by the head of the Delegation of Bulgarian Socialists in the European Parliament and member of the BSP Executive Bureau Kristian Vigenin on BNT. He believes that despite the tension that has been built up, the world will not collapse on us on 1 January 2026. “When you have set off in one direction, you cannot look left and right at every crossroads,” was how Vigenin metaphorically commented on the process of adopting the euro.

“I accept the scepticism of people about the euro with respect. Since there are fears, they have to be addressed properly. We in BSP insisted and continue to insist on serious measures to fight profiteering. We even proposed a law. We need to turn entry into the eurozone into an opportunity. But first of all the situation has to be calmed and the state has to take the right steps, so that there are guarantees in advance for the transition from the lev to the euro,” Kristian Vigenin said. He said that BSP has never at any point declared itself against the introduction of the euro and that this is written in party documents, with the qualification that it applies when the country is ready for it. The member of the BSP Executive Bureau and MEP noted that the convergence reports confirmed this readiness, and that the question now is for the institutions to do their job on monitoring possible profiteering and on a clear information campaign.

The North Macedonia report

On the topic of the report postponed in the European Parliament on the progress of the Republic of North Macedonia towards EU membership, Kristian Vigenin emphasised that the reaction of all Bulgarian MEPs was sharp, because well-founded doubts arose that the texts had been agreed in advance with the Macedonian side. He added as an argument the admission of the Macedonian prime minister himself, who said they had worked for 10 months to achieve these formulations. “There are grounds to believe that the Macedonian authorities were informed about texts in a report that had not been adopted, an agreement which is problematic. There are texts that are interpreted in bad faith by the Macedonian side and it was necessary for us to take measures to have them changed. European Parliament reports should not become instruments of any government. The postponement will give us the chance to put this right,” the MEP commented.

Vigenin drew attention to the big trap of framing the question as a bilateral one: “It has long not been bilateral, since the protection of human rights is a European principle, and meeting the commitments for EU membership is not a bilateral question.”