The euro weighs more for us. This was stated in “This Morning“ by the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister with various portfolios in two governments - Nikolay Vassilev. According to him, countries such as Germany, France and Italy, which have been proud of their national currencies for hundreds of years, are now proud to be part of the eurozone.
“When we find a Romanian outside the eurozone who says: “Look how you pushed yourself, what fools you are“, but in my opinion there will be no such case“, he added.
Vassilev recalled that he, as part of the government of “Saxe-Coburg-Gotha“ was the first to start negotiations for Bulgaria's accession to the eurozone.
„I have been a supporter of the eurozone since it existed. At that time, Bulgaria was not even part of the EU - around 2000. The only political force that after 2001, which has supported the eurozone from start to finish, is the NMSV. The BSP is „for“ today, but when Stanishev was in the triple coalition, the eurozone was not a priority. Borisov was first “for“, then he was “against“, then he had 10 years of sleep“, commented Vassilev.
The financier recalled that between 2006-2008 the EC and the European Central Bank decided that the single currency should be pronounced “euro“, but after Bulgaria's accession Vassilev started a personal battle in Bulgarian to officially pronounce it and write “euro“.
“If it can be pronounced for the Greeks, why can't it be pronounced for the Bulgarians? This was our main argument and they had nothing to answer. The last nail was hammered in by Sergey Stanishev and Ivaylo Kalfin at a meeting in Lisbon, but the ground was prepared. In Slavic languages, it is not normal to pronounce it as “euro“. The euro is Bulgarian“, he added.
Vassilev recalled another national battle – to have the banknotes have an inscription in Bulgarian, in addition to Latin and Greek. He commented that the governments of Ivan Kostov and Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha have “brought us to the border of the EU“. However, the eurozone was not a priority for the “Triple Coalition“ (NDSV, BSP, DPS) and it was not until Boyko Borisov's third term that we entered the waiting room for the eurozone.
“Assen Vassilev's budgets delayed us by three years and he took us out of the eurozone for three years, Now everyone is “for“ and in 2026 we will finally enter. From my point of view – "we are 15 years late," Vassilev pointed out.
According to him, the lack of adequate information from governments has led to skepticism in society towards the single currency. He was categorical that it will not be easier to "lie to us in euros" and people will quickly get used to the appearance of the new currency.
“Let me remind you how on July 1, 1999, the denomination of the levs took place. And back then, it was difficult for a person to remember what the old purple banknotes looked like. Bulgarians have been traveling for a long time, the euro is everywhere, properties have long been in euros. This is not a new, Martian currency, Vassilev pointed out.
The former minister was categorical that he expects investment to develop after our official accession to the eurozone.