Thousands of supporters of Bulgaria's ultra-nationalist pro-Russian Vazrazhdane (Revival) party fought with police on February 23 as they attempted to storm the European Union mission in Sofia during a protest against the country's planned adoption of the euro. 

Sofia has been targeting January 2026 for adoption of the European single currency, although it is unclear whether it will be able to meet the criteria for eurozone accession. 

The protest began in front of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), where demonstrators set effigies of European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde and other officials on fire.

Protesters then marched through Sofia to the EU building, hosting the European Commission and European Parliament offices in Bulgaria’s capital, where they threw red paint, firecrackers and Molotov cocktails. The front door was set on fire before police intervened.

The Bulgarian authorities reported that ten police officers sustained minor injuries, while six protesters were detained. "Such attacks are unacceptable and contradict the principles of the rule of law," the Bulgarian government said in a statement condemning the violence.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also criticised the attacks in a post on social media platform X. ”Outrageous scenes in Sofia where our EU office has been vandalised. In Europe, we exercise the right to demonstrate in a peaceful way. Violence and vandalism are never the answer,” she wrote. 

Revival, which has 35 seats in Bulgaria’s 240-member parliament, has long opposed the country's transition to the euro. The party has previously accused the BNB and the National Statistical Institute of manipulating economic data to accelerate eurozone accession.

In a statement, Vazrazhdane defended the protest, claiming 10,000 people gathered to "freely express their civic position”. 

The party claimed to be the victim of double standards. "When citizens of France or Georgia express their position in exactly the same way as today in Bulgaria, it is democratic, and when Bulgarians come out and express their position, it is called an 'act of vandalism'. There is obviously a double standard,” it said in a statement on its website. 

The party also alleged that police used excessive force, including tear gas, on demonstrators, among them several Revival MPs. 

Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov has said Sofia still aims to adopt the euro on January 1, 2026, and will soon ask Brussels for an extraordinary convergence report. 

Zhelyazkov has stated that the 2025 state budget will set a deficit target of around 3%, a key requirement for eurozone accession. 

However, there remain questions about both the government’s commitment to achieving this target — within the ruling coalition both the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and populist There Are Such People (ITN) oppose euro adoption — and Bulgaria’s readiness to introduce the European single currency. Bulgaria must still meet inflation targets before the European Commission can assess its readiness.

Public opinion is divided over the transition to the euro, with concerns that it could lead to price hikes, similar to those seen in Croatia after its adoption of the single currency in 2023. 

A recent poll showed around 57% of Bulgarians are against euro adoption, while just 26% want to join the eurozone next year. Asked by the Myara agency whether the euro should be adopted at any point, 41.4% of respondents said it should never be adopted. 30.8% of people would like euro adoption to be delayed, while just 25.7% of respondents think it should be adopted as of January 1, 2026.