A vigorous campaign against the adoption of the Euro, the normalization of anti-LGBT discourse, and a campaign for religion in schools have recently raised tensions in Bulgaria, in a period that was also marked by the trial and conviction in the UK of six Bulgarians who spied for Russia and claimed to have connections at the top of the Bulgarian state.
As Bulgaria braces for the Euro, the pendulum swings East
Ahead of Bulgaria’s long-awaited entrance into the singular Euro currency zone – currently set for January 1, 2026, with the European Commission likely to give Bulgaria the definitive green light on June 4, after the release of a convergence report – skeptical voices have been increasingly vocal.
Last weekend, on May 31, over one hundred protests across the whole country stood against the transition, with the major one being in the capital, Sofia. In many locations, the sizeable coordination has been made possible through the supporters of the country’s main far-right pro-Kremlin party, Revival, which had already done a few demonstrations on the topic, often ending with vandalism and police clashes. The protest in Sofia against the euro adoption brought several thousand and also showcased an unprecedented warming up between most of the nationalist and pro-Kremlin parties in Bulgaria, usually fragmented despite sharing common ideology. Members and leaders of the different forces took the stage to all call for Bulgaria to “remain free” and not be a “colony”.
Apart from targeting “the dictatorship of Brussels”, Revival are also stepping on the ressentiment narrative that by ditching the lev, Bulgaria not only sets itself for failure but loss of national identity (the lev was adopted in 1880, a year after Bulgaria gained partial independence from the Ottoman Empire).
President Rumen Radev, known for his softer positions on the Kremlin, has also used to situation and confusion to his benefit: on May 9, Europe’s Day, Radev provocatively announced his proposition for a referendum on the country’s adoption of the euro, citing there’s no consensus amongst society - such a step should be made “through the inner conviction of the people, not through dismissive disregard for their will.” The idea was quickly shot down by the parliament, much for the same reasons Revival’s previous efforts in that direction were thwarted in 2023 - such a plebiscite would violate the Bulgarian constitution, the country’s treaty of accession to the European Union, among other international treaties.
Apart from being one of the cases in which Radev’s political dependencies come to the surface, his doomed idea to block or delay the convergence has been largely seen by critical media as a stunt for his potential political project after his mandate ends in January 2027.
Fears that the Euro will lead to inflation are often present amongst the society, although not dominant: according to the Myara polling agency, as of May 15, 63.3 per cent are welcoming of the transition to the singular EU currency, 35,3 per cent are against, and around 10 per cent are undecided. However, in the case of the impossible referendum, 54.9 would vote against, 34.4 would be in favour, as many of the positively inclined would not consider voting.
The push for religion in schools, backed by the Church and the pro-Russians
As the euro debate constantly unfolds, for the last two months, another topic has divided professionals and commentators: the introduction of an optional course “Religion and Goodwill” in every elementary school. The idea has been promoted by the Minister of Education, the Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil, and supported by the teachers’ syndicate, led by a member of the “Russophile Movement” party.
These efforts have brought echoes from last summer’s legislative amendment banning LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and “gender ideology” in schools. Despite protests, including by educational professionals, such courses are expected to enter the curriculum from the 2026-2027 school year and to be led by teachers who will, in turn, go through а specific improvement of their work qualifications.
The strategy is yet to be finalised and voted on, but this narrative steps on a more solid ground compared to the anti-Euro line: according to a March poll by the Trend agency, 57 per cent of Bulgarians are in favour of religious studies classes.
From London with love
Despite making headlines through the international press, the uncovered ring of six Bulgarian spies in London passing sensitive information to Moscow did not trigger much reaction from the government officials or from the prosecution, despite evidence that they had collaborators on the local ground too.
On May 12, the six members of the network, assembled by Austrian fugitive Jan Marsalek and engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations between August 2020 and February 2023, received their sentences for more than 50 years in total.
According to the court, the spy ring engaged in sophisticated methods: manufacturing and using fake identities, making and adapting covert recording devices.
The spy ring’s activity was linked to six operations. One of them was conducting surveillance of former Bellingcat researcher and renowned investigative journalist Christo Grozev, who in 2022 was added to Russia’s ‘wanted’ list. The group, which called itself “the minions” as an in-house joke, also prepared a kidnap plot for UK-based Russian dissident Roman Dobrokhotov, former Kazakhstan politician Bergey Ryskaliyev, who also sought asylum in the UK, as well as lawyer Kirill Kachur. The spy ring also engaged in vandalising the Kazakh embassy in London in September 2022, and conducted surveillance on a US military base in Stuttgart from late 2022 until the group’s arrests in February 2023.
The case also gained attention because of the high-profile names of Bulgarian politicians mentioned in the chats with Marsalek as figures the spies have claimed to have contact with.
These include President Radev and Korneliya Ninova, who was the Economy minister from 2021-22 and is a former leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, a traditionally pro-Russian faction. Last December, when this information first made the rounds, they both swiftly denied any involvement.
“Criminal justice is carried out under the jurisdiction of the country where the crime was committed”, was the short answer of current Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov when local media asked him whether Bulgaria would follow the leads from the case, quickly squashing any possibility for a future investigation on the breach of national security.
The corrosion of trust in the EU seems both unchallenged and inevitable
The constant campaigning against the transition to the Euro and the lack of any kind of informational strategy about promoting possible benefits, is coinciding with the government’s push for more religion in schools while staying silent on the system’s problems with accessibility and proficiency (for example, in 2023, Bulgaria came in last place in an index of media literacy among European Union member states).
With the Bulgarian media space seemingly occupied by more and more actors and voices sowing doubt in the principles underlying the EU, a government that seems willing fitting the sovereignists/pro-Russian agenda (anti-LGBT, religion in schools etc.), and with the pro-European opposition forces weakened, the corrosion of trust in the EU seems both unchallenged and inevitable.
