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Bulgaria to join euro area on 1 January 2026

(www.ecb.europa.eu)
256 points toomuchtodo | 3 comments | 09 Jul 25 00:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.213s | source
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isodev ◴[09 Jul 25 01:24 UTC] No.44505504[source]▶
Nice. It’s amazing to see the progress Bulgarians have made in the last 20 years after joining the EU. I can imagine it hasn’t been an easy process.
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petesergeant ◴[09 Jul 25 02:11 UTC] No.44505750[source]▶
Two things that surprised me when I spent a couple of months in Bulgaria:

* Bulgarian support for the EU is pretty low and people didn't think it made their life much better

* Bulgarian support for Russia is very high, like 50%, probably due to their historic help in kicking out the Turks

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mc32 ◴[09 Jul 25 02:18 UTC] No.44505782[source]▶
Also the experience of Greece not too far back and the austerity imposed by Germany is not quite forgotten. Varoufakis[1] can attest to its severity. The Greeks voted against it but Germany imposed its will.

[1]https://jacobin.com/2025/07/yanis-varoufakis-on-the-legacy-o...

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1. gbil ◴[09 Jul 25 02:45 UTC] No.44505930[source]▶
This is a very distant view for the reasons behind the crisis in Greece and for sure the government of 2015 was not a victim. In the context of this thread, Bulgarians as Greeks before them, enjoy the money from the EU but don’t like the responsibility that comes from it, to reform, to also contribute and that you lose the own currency perks while you gain on other fronts. Of course there is a lot more here to discuss but this is my experience being a Greek in Greece.
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2. W3zzy ◴[09 Jul 25 05:30 UTC] No.44506607[source]▶
The government was not the victim in deed. But up until today you can see the results amongst the population. You can Prune for growt or you can just cut the plant to the ground hoping it will survive.
3. omnimus ◴[09 Jul 25 07:17 UTC] No.44507135[source]▶
Greece was sacrificed so eurozone (especialy Germany) could hide recession by bailing out banks (through bailing out Hreece). Greeks know and believe this. That makes their relationship with EU quite complicated.