Posted on 01/15/2026 8:28:46 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On Jan. 1, Bulgaria became the eurozone’s 21st member when it gave up its 145-year-old currency, the lev, for the euro. In Sofia and Brussels, this development was roundly celebrated as another step in the European Union’s economic and political integration.
What went largely unnoticed, however, is the extent to which Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro represents a strategic blow for the Kremlin. After years of sustained effort to block Sofia from joining the eurozone, Moscow failed to prevent a decision that anchors Bulgaria more deeply and irreversibly within the European project. The currency switch not only exposed the limits of Russia’s hybrid tactics but also narrowed its remaining leverage in the country.
Russia has never fully accepted Bulgaria’s strategic realignment. Instead, it has continued to treat Bulgaria as contested ground, drawing on historical, cultural, religious, and economic ties—including energy dependence—in order to keep the country within what Russia perceives as its sphere of influence. Part of the Kremlin’s influence extends through the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which maintains close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church; Moscow has long used the latter as a soft-power instrument to promote notions of Slavic and Orthodox brotherhood.
For much of its modern history, Bulgaria was Russia’s most stalwart European ally, which left Moscow to exert its lingering influence even after Sofia’s entry into Western institutions, including NATO and the European Union.
From the Kremlin’s perspective, eurozone enlargement is not a neutral economic process. Seen from Moscow, any deepening of EU integration constrains its ability to exploit bilateral dependencies, apply selective pressure, create divisions within the bloc, and cultivate gray zones of influence on the EU’s eastern flank. Countries that adopt the euro become more closely tied to one another economically, financially, and politically, reducing opportunities for outside manipulation.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
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Entering the EU economy works sort of like this trap:
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What a BS. Bulgaria is just a miserable hellhole that always licks boots of whoever it considers stronger. Be it Turkey, Germany, or Russia. If anything, it applied to join USSR during the Cold war. Moscow said no.
You mean entering the EU or entering the eurozone - the eurozone is a sub-set of the EU but there are many countries that are in the EU but not in the eurozone.
The EU Economic zone is a pretty good idea - if they scrapped the EU parliament and kept it purely as an economic and foreign policy confederacy like the Old Swiss confederation, it would be better.
The Economic zone enables goods and services to travel freely and to have standard rules in place so a company in Sweden buying stuff from Portugal and Bulgaria doesn’t have to worry about standard quality or legal means in case something goes wrong.
The EUROZONE on the other hand, well, that does make business easier, but is less of a plus
“”””of whoever it considers stronger.”””””
Revealing info, thanks.
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