A brawl broke out in Bulgaria's parliament today over the country's decision to join the eurozone, with some lawmakers calling on supporters of preserving the national currency, the lev, to block the national assembly.
This was reported by the Macedonian news agency MIA, stating that during the parliamentary session, pro-Russian "Renewal" deputies, at the call of leader Kostadin Kostadinov, blocked access to the rostrum, and that he then climbed onto it.
"Today is a black day for Bulgaria, the Janissaries are burying our country," Kostadinov said.
The MIA agency adds that photos published by Bulgarian media show that a physical altercation occurred between two MPs.
The parliamentary group "We are learning with changes - Democratic Bulgaria" has submitted a proposal to remove Concho Ganev from the "Renewal" party from the post of deputy speaker of parliament.
The reason is that tension escalated in the plenary hall today when Ganev punched MP Yavor Bozankov from "Continuing with Changes - Democratic Bulgaria".
Supporters of the Bulgarian national currency have been protesting in front of the national parliament building since this morning, and Kostadinov called on demonstrators to block the parliament.
The European Commission announced today that Bulgaria has fulfilled the conditions for adopting the single European currency, the euro, from January 1, 2026, making it the 21st member of the eurozone, three years after Croatia.
An official decision on this is due to be made by European Union (EU) finance ministers on July 8, but no opposition is expected as the country of 6,4 million people meets all technical requirements.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also gave a positive opinion today for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria.
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