Bulgaria’s Eurozone Entry Is Another Setback for Russia |
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.
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........