Bulgarian prosecutors have asked the parliament for permission to arrest two members of the right-wing populist Revival party for vandalizing the EU Commission building in Sofia during last month’s protest against the country’s planned entry into the euro zone in 2026.
MPs Ivaylo Chorbov and Slavcho Krumov are charged with “destroying police uniforms by throwing eggs with red paint, as well as arson of the European Commission Representation building” via “bottles of incendiary liquid,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Two additional Revival MPs are also under investigation for hooliganism, but the prosecutors have not yet requested their arrest.
Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov condemned what he calls “political repression” by the ruling establishment GERB (EPP), merely for “setting fire to one door and breaking two windows.” He also condemned the alleged police brutality against the six others, mainly student protesters arrested that day.
The nationalist Revival (a member of Europe of Sovereign Nations; ESN) is the third-largest party in the Bulgarian parliament and received only 1% less than the main opposition bloc, the PP-DB (EPP/Renew) alliance during last year’s snap elections—the seventh parliamentary election in four years before a viable coalition finally emerged in January 2025.
The new government, formed by the center-right GERB, the socialist BSP (S&D), the populist ITN (ECR), and a Turkish minority party, pledged to make “the Euro-Atlantic agenda” their top priority after the years of political crisis. Accordingly, one of its first major decisions was the February announcement of the intention to adopt the euro in 2026.
The decision immediately sparked widespread protests in the country, spearheaded by Revival as the only major Euroskeptic party in the opposition.
The argument against abandoning the Bulgarian lev is not only about the surrender of a key piece of sovereignty but also fears of major budget cuts needed to get there. Euro zone accession and membership require countries to not exceed a 3% budget deficit threshold, and Bulgaria—with a projected deficit of 7-8%—would need to implement major austerity policies if it wants to meet the criteria by the end of the year.
Bulgarians are also afraid that the adoption of the euro would cause prices to skyrocket overnight, as in Croatia in 2023.
According to a recent poll published by the sociological research institute Myara, conducted just days before the government announced the 2026 goal, 57% of Bulgarians oppose the adoption of the euro, in contrast to only 39% in favor.
Public opinion didn’t change much even after researchers added delayed euro zone entry as a third option. In this case, 26% were in favor of the planned 2026 adoption, 31% said they’d back entering the euro zone sometime after next year, and a plurality (41%) still said they would oppose it indefinitely.
The anti-euro protest on February 22nd was the largest so far, involving an estimated 5-10,000 protesters. Revival vows to continue the demonstrations until the government backs down, claiming to be the only party representing the will of the majority.
