Bulgarians Have the Lowest Trust in EU Membership Benefits, Eurobarometer Finds

A new Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Parliament has found that Bulgaria ranks last among all EU member states when it comes to citizens believing that membership in the bloc actually benefits their country. The finding is a striking data point for a nation that joined the EU in 2007 and has sent hundreds of thousands of its citizens to live and work across Europe ever since.

What the Numbers Say

According to Dariknews, 57 percent of Bulgarians say they see benefits from their country's EU membership. That may sound like a majority, and technically it is, but Petel reports it is still the lowest share recorded across all 27 member states. In other words, while most Bulgarians are not outright hostile to Brussels, they are the least convinced of any EU population that membership is working in their country's favour. Club Z summarises the picture bluntly: Bulgarians hold the lowest trust in the EU regarding the benefits of belonging to it.

A separate BNR News report via Google News describes Bulgarians as "moderately optimistic" about the EU overall, suggesting the picture is nuanced rather than simply negative. Euroscepticism in Bulgaria is not ideological in the way it has become in Hungary or Slovakia. It reads more like disappointment: people who wanted the European dream and are still waiting for it to fully arrive.

Why This Matters Beyond Bulgaria's Borders

Western context note: Bulgaria consistently ranks among the EU's poorest members by GDP per capita, which shapes how citizens weigh the bloc's abstract promises against daily economic realities.

For the Bulgarian diaspora spread across Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and beyond, this survey lands with a particular resonance. Many left precisely because EU membership had not yet translated into the wages, institutions or opportunities they hoped for at home. From their vantage point in wealthier member states, the gap between what the EU looks like from the outside and what it delivers inside Bulgaria remains painfully visible.

At the same time, diaspora Bulgarians are among the most tangible proof that EU freedom of movement works. They travel home, send remittances and retain voting rights. Their relationship with the bloc is often more intimate and more complicated than any survey can capture in a single percentage point.

The Eurobarometer results will likely feed into ongoing debates in Sofia about euro adoption, rule-of-law reforms and the pace of convergence with Western European living standards. Whether 57 percent becomes a bigger number or a smaller one depends, in no small part, on whether those debates produce results that ordinary Bulgarians can actually feel.