"Better without Sofia" - under this title the German "Süddeutsche Zeitung" published an article on Bulgaria's ambitions to join the eurozone.

The newspaper reminds that Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov intends to apply for accession in the first half of this year. According to the author, Kerstin Gamelin, until then the German government will have to decide whether Bulgaria could soon enter the eurozone. The European treaties stipulate that any country that joins the EU can automatically introduce the euro if it meets the economic requirements for it, the paper explains. But Bulgaria's desire to introduce the euro meets opposition in Germany, we read in the article.

The author summarizes the political attitudes in the Bundestag as follows: "Bulgaria should not enter the euro area according to the current conditions - the criteria should be extended". For example, the Christian Democrats insist that the necessary reforms in the euro area be completed first.

"Before we accept new countries, we need to resolve the urgent questions about the future of the monetary union in the current round," Eckhard Reberg, a spokesman for the parliamentary faction of Christian Democrats, told Eddie Reed, who told Reuters that "the currency union can not cope" at the same time with the reforms and with the admission of new member states, there is also resistance in the ranks of the opposition SDU, which traditionally focuses on economic and financial issues.

"The deputy chairman of her parliamentary faction, Chris Jan Dur suggests that there should be balance between the economic conditions in the individual countries, and in this regard, Dur recalls that Bulgaria is still the country with the lowest income per capita across the EU, making it the poorest country in the Union.

And in the eurozone there are still many unextinguished economic fires, like Italy or Greece, "said Dur, adding that before the fires were suppressed, the eurozone should not talk about enlargement but about sustainable stabilization. The discussion about Bulgaria "is not only hasty, it is also held at the most inappropriate moment", the expert from the SDP also said. The Social Democrats, who have participated in the previous one and probably will also enter the future government of Germany, believe that more time is needed for the adoption of Bulgaria. The euro must not be denied to any member state, says Marcus Thöns, deputy head of the European Affairs Committee. However, the decision must be taken later.

And outside of the Bundestag, arguments are being sought to delay Bulgaria from joining of the euro, the Süddeutsche Zeitung says, adding that the German Federal Bundesbank is considering introducing additional criteria for countries wishing to join the euro, such as the improvement of the state of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.

"The European Central Bank recently found that during the crisis, the eurozone countries visibly collapsed as a result of the introduction of the banking union and and the European Stability Mechanism ESM. That is why any country wishing to join the euro will have to accept the new conditions, "the paper writes.

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