Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court rejected the far-right initiative on Thursday to hold a referendum to delay the country’s accession to the eurozone for at least twenty years.
The proposal for a referendum on the Eurozone was first rejected by parliament in July last year because Bulgarian law does not allow referendums on international treaties. Bulgaria’s Constitutional Court has now ruled that parliament’s decision was legal.
While Constitutional Court judges were deciding the case, about 100 supporters of the far-right pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane staged an aggressive protest outside the court building, setting fire to an effigy dressed in a judge’s robe. The protesters also threw bales of hay and animal dung in front of the courthouse.
“The court committed national treason”, commented party leader Kostadin Kostadinov as his supporters rioted outside the court.
The Bulgarian government aims to join the eurozone on 1 January 2025, but first, the authorities in Sofia must take measures to reduce inflation. The Constitutional Court’s decision removes domestic political obstacles to the government’s ambitions, while Bulgarian society remains divided in its support for the EU currency.
Pro-European political forces in Sofia view joining the eurozone as an economic and geopolitical goal that will make Bulgaria’s EU membership irreversible. About 30% of the country’s population is perceived as pro-Russian, and aggressive propaganda across social media aims to expand the influence of Kremlin narratives on Bulgarian society.
The Vazrazhdane party uses the eurozone as a political bargaining chip and, early last year, proposed a referendum asking: “Do you agree that the Bulgarian lev should be the only official currency in Bulgaria until 2043?”
The party has since collected 600,000 signatures supporting the referendum, about 12% of the Bulgarian adult population.
However, they launched the call for signatures amidst a parliamentary election campaign, with the call for a referendum likely contributing to their successful and unexpected 16% win, which made them parliament’s third political force.
The referendum was also backed by the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party and the populist ITN, but they did not participate in collecting signatures.
According to last year’s Eurobarometer survey, 49% of Bulgarians favour adopting the euro, while the same number – 49% – oppose this.
Bulgarians’ hesitation regarding the eurozone is something Varazhdane is banking on, especially in the run-up to the EU elections, as the party seeks to become the second political force and send four of Bulgaria’s 17 MEPs to the European Parliament.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
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Source: euractiv.com
