As the New Year was rung in on Thursday, Bulgaria switched over to the euro.

It was a quiet change, with none of the theatrics that usually accompany such changes. Against what took place here for example, it was not a politically divisive issue. 

Bulgaria has thus become the 21st member state of the Eurozone. The country joined the European Union in 2007 after freeing itself from the USSR and the Warsaw Pact.

Now only six of the 27 EU members are outside the currency union - Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Denmark.

Bulgaria fulfilled the entry criteria and its macroeconomic indicators remain stable with inflation now at around 2.8%, down from around 13% in 2022. 

It still has a lot of catching up to do - the income level in Bulgaria is only 59% of the EU average.

Yet political instability is a big risk. It is one of the poorest countries in the EU and it also ranks among the block's most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Bulgaria, a country of 6.4 million people has had seven parliamentary elections since 2021.

No referendum has been held on the euro accession but the country has been exposed to misinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories for which Russia is blamed.

Croatia joined the eurozone in January 2023. The number of Europeans using the currency is now more than 350 million. 

In the streets and shops of Sofia people have been preparing for the changeover:  "Common past. Common future. Common currency."

People welcome the stability the common currency brings with it - they can travel using euros instead of having to exchange currency.

And also businesses that sell goods across borders do not have to worry about changing conversion rates.

The euro simplifies matters enormously - as recent as the 1990s one needed to fill out endless paperwork just to travel, let alone work abroad. Getting all the permits and visas was a major hassle.

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