Why Bulgaria's government is shaking amid country's euro transition and what it means for Ukraine

Protests erupted in Bulgaria right before the Christmas holidays. Protesters have the potential to topple Rosen Zhelyazkov’s government and send the country into its eighth snap election in the last five years.

These protests could undermine the government’s key Euro-integration achievement: the planned transition to the euro at the beginning of 2026. That in turn strengthens the arguments of "Putin’s friends," whose propaganda has intensified significantly in recent weeks.

Read more about Bulgaria’s new political crisis in the article by Volodymyr-Nazarii Havrysh of the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council: A crisis on the road to the euro: why protests have erupted in Bulgaria and what consequences they could have.

The most recent parliamentary elections in Bulgaria were held in October last year. At first glance, that seems recent – yet going a full year without snap elections is an impressive milestone in Bulgaria.

One reason the current government has lasted this long is that Bulgaria finally reached the final stage of its path to joining the eurozone.

Despite resistance from the pro-Russian opposition, all necessary EU procedures were completed this summer, securing the country’s course and setting 1 January 2026 as the date when the euro will become Bulgaria’s new national currency. During this time, the Euro-Atlantic opposition, the We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria" (WCC-DB) bloc, promised not to obstruct the government coalition in order not to sabotage the Euro-integration process.

But public dissatisfaction with the new coalition has been steadily growing and that anger has a very specific face.

It belongs to sanctioned oligarch and leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Delyan Peevski. Formally, his party is not part of the ruling coalition (including due to reputational concerns).

However, it is MRF that provides the coalition with the votes it needs, giving Peevski a public reputation as the shadow controller of the government.

As parliament pushed through a highly unpopular budget in its first reading, public outrage swelled and opposition leaders from the WCC-DB bloc took the lead on the parliamentary floor.

In response, Boyko Borissov, head of GERB, the largest party in parliament, issued an ultimatum to his coalition partners: either they jointly withdraw the budget and draft a new one, or Bulgaria heads to snap elections.

As expected, parliament abandoned plans to adopt the budget in second reading.

Borissov now promises a new budget before New Year, and the finance minister has announced that an agreement has been reached to incorporate most protest demands into the revised draft, including reversing tax and social contribution increases.

Meanwhile, WCC-DB is attempting to launch a third wave of protests on 10 December under the slogan "Government Resign!"

At the same time, the government faces the urgent task of drafting and submitting a new budget to committees and parliament in a very short timeframe.

Euro-Atlantic opposition forces are trying to turn the broadly popular issue of the budget into a more targeted political campaign – one aimed at dismantling the power model built by Boyko Borissov and sanctioned oligarch Delyan Peevski.

If they manage to sustain the public momentum and continue mobilising large demonstrations, then alongside the 2026 presidential election, Bulgarians may also be choosing a new parliament.

For Ukraine, the destabilisation of a key Black Sea partner promises only new challenges.