Bulgaria faces protests over adopting euro

SOFIA, Bulgaria: Bulgaria is expected to get a green light from Brussels in June to adopt the euro -- but the prospect is unsettling many citizens.

“If Bulgaria joins the eurozone, it will be like boarding the Titanic,” Nikolai Ivanov, a retired senior official, told AFP at a recent protest calling for the country´s currency -- the lev -- to be maintained.

Since January, opponents of Bulgaria adopting the common European currency have launched demonstrations and demanded a referendum on the issue, amid a torrent of disinformation.

Memories of a 1996-1997 economic crisis that saw 14 banks go bankrupt and hyperinflation of more than 300 percent also resurfaced, fuelling the opposition.

Several recent surveys showed nearly half of those questioned said they were opposed to Bulgaria joining the eurozone.