Bulgaria plans to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. The Bulgarian lev has been on the currency board since 1997 through a fixed exchange rate of the lev against the Deutsche Mark and the euro. Bulgaria's target date for introduction of the euro is 1 January 2025, which would make the euro only the second national currency of the country since the lev was introduced over 140 years ago. The official exchange rate is 1.95583 lev for 1 euro.
The Council of Ministers is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Bulgaria. It consists of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and all the specialized ministers.
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva is a Bulgarian and EU politician.
The eighty-ninth cabinet of Bulgaria, also known as the Three-party coalition cabinet and the Stanishev Government, ruled from August 17, 2005, to July 27, 2009. The cabinet was formed with the coalition of the three leading at that time: BSP, NDSV and DPS, in order of their parliamentary representation. Their parliamentary representation also determined the number of cabinet appointments.
International governments are divided on the issue of recognition of the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, which was declared in 2008. The Government of Serbia does not diplomatically recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state, although the two countries have enjoyed normalised economic relations since 2020 and have agreed not to try to interfere with the other's accession to the European Union.
Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu is a Tongan civil servant, diplomat and former Cabinet Minister. From 2005 to 2009 she was Tonga's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, and from 2017 to 2021 she was United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. From 2021 to 2024 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has been on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU since 2005, when it became an official candidate for accession. The Republic of Macedonia submitted its membership application in 2004, thirteen years after its independence from Yugoslavia. It is one of nine current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Irina Georgieva Bokova is a Bulgarian politician and a former Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017). During her political and diplomatic career in Bulgaria, she served, among others, two terms as a member of the National parliament, and deputy minister of foreign affairs and minister of foreign affairs ad interim under Prime Minister Zhan Videnov. She also served as Bulgaria's ambassador to France and to Monaco, and was Bulgaria's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. Bokova was also the personal representative of Bulgaria's president to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (2005–2009).
On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave of EU enlargement.
Rosen Asenov Plevneliev is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works from July 2009 to September 2011 as part of the cabinet of Boyko Borisov. In October 2011, Plevneliev was elected as President in a second round of voting; he was inaugurated on 18 January 2012.
Nadezhda Neynsky, previously known as Nadezhda Nikolova Mihaylova is a Bulgarian politician and diplomat. A former leader of the Union of the Democratic Forces, she served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a Member of both the National Assembly and the European Parliament. She was most recently the Bulgarian Ambassador to Turkey.
Nevyana Mihaylova Miteva is a retired Bulgarian swimmer. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly and 4 × 100 m medley relay events and reached the final in the relay, her team finishing in sixth place.
Mariya Ivanova Gabriel is a Bulgarian politician and a member of the GERB party, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2023. She served as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth between December 2019 and May 2023 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2017.
Boyko Metodiev Borisov is a Bulgarian politician who was a three-term Prime Minister of Bulgaria, serving from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017, and 2017 to 2021, making him Bulgaria's second-longest serving Prime Minister to date. Despite leaving office, Borisov remained as the leader of the GERB party and later returned to politics by becoming a member of the National Assembly, which he is to this date.
Rumen Georgiev Radev is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who has been the president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017.
Angelina Baiden-Amissah is a Ghanaian politician and a former member of parliament for the Shama constituency of the Western Region of Ghana.
Tsveta Valcheva Karayancheva is a Bulgarian engineer and politician who was Chair of the country's National Assembly from November 2017 to March 2021.
Kiril Petkov Petkov is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We Continue the Change, a political party he co-founded with Asen Vasilev.
Dimitar Borisov Glavchev is a Bulgarian politician who is the current caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria. A political independent, he is also the Head of the Chamber of Audit, currently on unpaid leave. He was previously a member of the GERB party and served as Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2021. In 2017, he shortly served as Chairman of the National Assembly.
The Glavchev Government is the 103rd cabinet of Bulgaria. It was appointed by President Rumen Radev on 9 April 2024, and sworn in the same day. The Glavchev Caretaker Cabinet was the first Caretaker Cabinet to be selected using the system created by the Constitutional Amendments of December, 2023, and was the first Caretaker Cabinet to be sworn in in the presence of the National Assembly, rather than in the presence of the President.
