Politics of the European Union

According to the latest national report for Bulgaria from the autumn 2024 edition of the Standard Eurobarometer, nearly two-thirds of Bulgarians view the free movement of people as the primary benefit of EU membership.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras will travel to Brussels on Thursday to participate in the EU Transport Council. 

Discussions will focus on passenger rights, the improvement of services for all commuters, and road safety issues, such as the legislative initiative on disqualification from driving for serious offenses. 

Istanbul is set to host the third meeting of a regional bloc focused on fostering peace and trade in the South Caucasus on Oct. 18.

The gathering will be chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and attended by his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran and Russia.

Bulgaria is not prepared to introduce the euro on January 1, 2025, as it fails to meet one of the four criteria for eurozone entry—the inflation level. This was highlighted in a report by the European Commission, adopted on Wednesday.

Bulgaria is expected to adopt the euro at the beginning of 2026, rather than mid-next year as previously forecasted. This update was provided by acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ludmila Petkova, who emphasized the need for technological time to meet the final criterion for euro adoption.

Vice President Iliana Yotova emphasized Bulgaria's imperative to maintain momentum towards joining the Eurozone during a forum dedicated to the country's Eurozone accession prospects.

The majority of Greek citizens spoke through silence and abstained from the recent European election. Voter turnout was just 41%, much lower than that in the June 2023 national election (54%). To interpret this record high abstention rate, one common and one more dramatic explanation have been suggested. The first tells us that the European Parliament elections are not of interest to citizens.

The strong gains of European far-right political parties in the European Parliament elections indicate a more difficult road ahead on the already damaged Türkiye-EU relations, with less hope for breakthroughs on issues like upgrading the customs union and visa liberalization.

European Union leaders are set to start bargaining over top EU institution jobs after the European Parliament election concluded on Sunday with gains for the centre-right and far-right.

What are the top EU jobs?

The European Union has always been a geopolitical pygmy. But it used to comfort itself that it was an economic giant: It accounted for 29% of global output in 1992.