Bulgaria Poised to Join Euro Zone After Winning EU Support
The euro-zone is poised to welcome its 21st member: Bulgaria, a nation of 6.4 million, today won the European Commission's backing to adopt the common currency in 2026. Necessary criteria including inflation and public debt have been fulfilled, according to the Commission and the European Central Bank.
Joining the euro-zone would cap an effort that started as early as in 2007, when Bulgaria joined the European Union. There's still work to be done — EU governments, along with the European Parliament, must also give their blessing, and Bulgaria was urged by the ECB to fulfill requirements of the Financial Action Task Force.
There's also opposition at home. Bulgaria's pro-Russia president, Rumen Radev, has called the decision into question. And the nationalist Revival party has been seeking a referendum in an attempt to delay accession indefinitely. —
The US is refusing to provide air defenses to back a 'reassurance force' the UK and France are planning in a postwar Ukraine, we're told. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted such a US backstop is necessary to deter Russia from breaching any future ceasefire deal, but European allies have concluded that Donald Trump won't provide the guarantees they have sought. The UK and France remain hopeful the US will continue to provide intelligence as well as surveillance of the border between Ukraine and Russia, sources tell us.
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