Bulgaria is heading for its seventh parliamentary election since 2021, deepening the Balkan country’s political stalemate and further jeopardizing its potential accession to the eurozone, the country’s president announced on Monday.
The last vote, held in June to coincide with European elections, failed to produce a winner, and none of the new political forces and actors that have emerged in recent years were able to form a stable government.
Bulgaria, the poorest member of the European Union by GDP per capita, has been rocked by political instability since 2020, when nationwide protests erupted against oligarchic mafia leaders that had taken control of state institutions.
Combined with high inflation and ever-spreading Russian disinformation, the political stalemate has delayed Bulgaria’s accession to the eurozone. Although politicians are trying to get the country in shape for entry next summer, analysts told POLITICO that January 2026 is the earliest realistic date for Bulgaria to join the euro.
Three different political parties were offered the opportunity to form a coalition in the Bulgarian National Assembly after the June vote. The trio — the center-right “Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria,” the reformist “We Continue the Change” and the populist “There Is Such A People” — all failed to cobble together a majority.
