Bulgarian Constitutional Court Completely Blocks President Radev's Euro Referendum Push

Bulgaria's Constitutional Court delivered a near-total rebuke to President Rumen Radev's attempts to force a referendum on euro adoption, accepting only one of his multiple legal questions for consideration. The court's decision represents a significant setback for the president's last-minute campaign against Bulgaria's planned 2026 transition to the single currency.

The sole question admitted for review concerns parliamentary speaker Natalia Kiselova's authority to evaluate referendum proposals. Two judges - Sonya Yankulova and Borislav Belazelkov - registered dissenting opinions on this limited point. However, the court unanimously rejected Radev's broader demands, including his request to nullify Kiselova's earlier decision blocking parliamentary consideration of the referendum proposal.

Three additional judges filed dissenting opinions when the court refused to interpret whether parliament must vote on referendum proposals from constitutional bodies. This legal battle stems from Kiselova's May 2024 decision, where the constitutional law professor cited existing treaty obligations as making the referendum legally inadmissible.

The president's sudden referendum push in May - coinciding with Bulgaria's eurozone convergence report - marked a stark reversal from his 2022 position. At that time, Radev had told the "Revival" party that referendums couldn't override ratified international treaties like Bulgaria's EU accession agreement, which commits the country to eventual euro adoption.

With the Constitutional Court's decision, Bulgaria's path toward January 2026 euro introduction remains clear. The country has already completed all procedural steps, including ERM2 mechanism entry and requesting an extraordinary convergence report. The European Commission and ECB have both confirmed Bulgaria's readiness, leaving only formal approval by the European Council in early July.