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The ECB will illuminate the south façade of its main building in Frankfurt to mark Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area

by AI | 23.Dec 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Only 10 days remain before Bulgaria becomes the 21st member of the eurozone, wrote Christine Lagarde on social media

Press conference of the European Central Bank. In the photo: ECB President Christine Lagarde Photo: Elena Savova/BTA

FRANKFURT AM MAIN – The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde once again highlighted the key period before Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area. “Only 10 days remain before Bulgaria becomes the 21st member of the euro area,” she wrote in a post on her Facebook page. A little more than two weeks ago Lagarde noted that there were 25 days left until the adoption of the single currency in the country.

On New Year’s Eve, just before 1 January, when Bulgaria officially adopts the euro, the ECB will illuminate the southern façade of its main building in Frankfurt to mark the country’s accession to the euro area as of 1 January 2026.

The animation will include the greeting “Welcome, Bulgaria” in all the languages of the euro area countries, and will also feature a presentation of the national side of the 50 cent, 1 euro and 2 euro coins. The clip, which will last about four minutes, will be projected from 1 to 11 January 2026 and will include visual elements in the EU colours – blue and yellow – arranged in lines and bars generated by algorithms based on the music of the “Ode to Joy”. The first screening will take place on New Year’s Day.

The visuals will be complemented by white lines and “bubbles” containing social and cultural data about Europe – the number of countries, languages or major cities. The visual concept symbolizes “unity in diversity” and emphasizes both the European identity and the importance of the enlargement of the euro area with the accession of Bulgaria.

The animation will also be visible from the air, and the ECB plans to inform airlines operating in Germany and Bulgaria in order to encourage filming from planes taking off and landing in Frankfurt. (22 December)