Bulgaria will ask the European Commission and the European Central Bank for an assessment on whether the Balkan country meets all criteria to join the euro zone in January next year, its finance minister said on Monday.

Police in Bulgaria’s capital have clashed with nationalist protesters who demanded that the government scrap plans to bring the country into the eurozone.

Police detain a supporter of Bulgaria's ultranationalist Revival party as he tried to storm the office of the European Commission during a demonstration against the country's plans of joining the euro zone,

Several thousand people rallied outside Bulgaria's central bank and the European Commission building in Sofia to protest government plans to introduce the euro as official currency.

Thousands of supporters of Bulgaria's ultra-nationalist pro-Russian Vazrazhdane (Revival) party fought with police on February 23 as they attempted to storm the European Union mission in Sofia during a protest against the country's planned adoption of the euro.