DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Huge crowds flocked to the area outside Bangladesh’s national parliament building in the capital Wednesday to attend the funeral prayers for former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia , who died a day earlier at the age of 80 after a prolonged illness.
Waves of people from Dhaka and elsewhere had been streaming in toward the venue on Manik Mia Avenue, outside the parliament building, since early morning. Witnesses said many cried, calling Zia their “mother” as they arrived at the venue, with some traveling overnight from rural areas to join the prayers. In neighborhoods kilometers (miles) away, crowds also spilled into major streets to pray.
Zia’s funerals were expected to draw hundreds of thousands of her supporters and people from across the country while dignitaries from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal also arrived in Dhaka, with local media saying foreign envoys and representatives from 32 countries joined the funeral ceremony. She will be buried beside the grave of her husband, a former president who was assassinated in a military coup in 1981, in a park outside the parliament building later Wednesday.
Zia came to politics after her husband’s death and rose to prominence as an opposition leader during a nine-year movement against a former military dictator who was ousted in a mass uprising in 1990. Zia became prime minister for the first time in 1991, with a landslide victory in a democratically held national election as the country introduced parliamentary democracy. She was the leader of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party till her death.
Zia, who was known for having a calm demeanor, maintained a strong political rivalry with her archrival and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, who heads the Bangladesh Awami League party, ruled the country for 15 years before she was ousted in 2024 in a mass uprising.
Zia's coffin, draped in Bangladesh’s national flag, was carried in a van escorted by security officials and party supporters from the hospital to her residence and then to the funeral venue.
Authorities said about 10,000 security officials including soldiers would be deployed around the venue to maintain order on Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus announced a three-day mourning and declared Wednesday a public holiday to facilitate the funerals. Flags were kept at half-staff Wednesday across the country to show respect to Zia, the country’s first female prime minister who served two full terms and another brief term.
Zia’s eldest son, Tarique Rahman, is the acting head of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is the front-runner in the nation’s next elections in February.
Hasina, who has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024, was sentenced to death in November on charges of crimes against humanity involving last year’s uprising.
FILE - Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia looks upwards as she attends a rally of her supporters outside their party headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 12, 2012. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
FILE - Khaleda Zia takes an oath of office as the prime minister in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Oct. 10, 2001. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman, File)
FILE - Bangladesh's former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia, center, leaves court after a hearing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo, File)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — On New Year’s Day, Bulgaria becomes the 21st country to join the euro currency union, furthering its integration into the European Union. But the historic milestone arrives amid political instability and skepticism among ordinary people fueled by fears of price rises.
Supporters of switching to the euro from the old currency, the lev, are praising the move as one of the greatest achievements since the 1989 transition from a Soviet-style economy to democracy and free markets. They hope it will make the country more attractive for investors and strengthen its orientation toward wealthier Western Europe.
But many people are uneasy, in a country where corruption is rife and trust in the authorities is low. One fear is that merchants will round prices up or otherwise use the changeover to worsen inflation, at a time when inflation has rebounded to 3.7%.
An EU Eurobarometer poll from March showed that 53% of 1,017 people surveyed opposed joining the eurozone, while 45% were in favor. A separate Eurobarometer poll, taken between Oct. 9 and Nov. 3 on a similar sample, showed that about half of Bulgarians opposed the single currency while 42% were in favor. The margin of error was about plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for the March poll.
The government successfully completed the euro adoption process by beating inflation down to 2.7% earlier this year to comply with EU rules and win approval from EU leaders. But clearing that hurdle was followed by a new chapter of political chaos. The government resigned after less than a year in office amid nationwide anti-corruption protests. This left the country without a regular budget for next year and is hampering plans for long-overdue structural reforms and decisions on use of EU support funds. A new election — the eighth in five years — is expected to be held next spring.
Nevelin Petrov, 64, said he welcomed the euro. “Bulgaria is a full member of the European Union, and its rightful place is alongside the other developed and democratic European nations,” he said. “I am convinced that the adoption of the euro will contribute to the long-term prosperity of our country,” he said.
Others, like Darina Vitova, who runs a pedicure salon in Sofia, said things were moving too fast although she welcomed the change “in principle.”
“The standard of living and incomes in our country are far from those in the richest European countries, while prices here are rising and life for the average person will become more difficult,” she said. She acknowledges that when heading to the beaches in neighboring Greece, it will be more convenient to pay with the same “pocket money” she uses at home.
Bulgaria, with its 6.4 million people, is one of the poorest members of the 27-country European union. The average monthly wage is 1,300 euros ($1,530).
Countries that join the EU commit to the euro, but actually joining can take years and some members are in no hurry. Poland in particular has seen strong economic growth since joining the EU in 2004 without adopting the euro.
Opponents of joining have fed fears that the changes will allegedly lead to more poverty and loss of national identity. Social media has spread disinformation such as false claims that the euro could lead to confiscation of bank accounts. Nationalist and pro-Russian groups exploit these fears.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said that countries have experienced a slight, transient rise in prices of 0.2%-0.4% right after joining. Price rises can be more apparent than real, as cafe and hairdressers may put off printing new menus and price lists ahead of the change, so that increases are only delayed, not caused by the euro.
Anti-euro rallies in May and September were organized by the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party but remained smaller than the mass protests that toppled the government. While the anti-euro protests were supported by older people based on economic anxiety, the mass protests that toppled the government appeared to represent a younger electorate fed up with corruption and eager to integrate with Europe.
Anti-euro disinformation spread by pro-Russian politicians and social media aim “to reduce support for the European Union, NATO and Ukraine,” said Dimitar Keranov, program coordinator for engaging Central Europe at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.
Bulgaria’s European integration “is not in Moscow’s interest at all, so if it can somehow polarize society and weaken support for the European Union that’s what it tries to achieve," he said.
Euro adoption is another way to combat Russian influence, he said: “The further Bulgaria advances in its European integration, the harder it becomes for Russia to influence the country.”
Petar Ganev, an analyst at the Sofia-based Institute for Market Economics, says that that by stepping down the outgoing government has sent a signal of uncertainty to foreign investors.
“Instead of capitalizing on euro adoption as a strong and positive signal to the international community—investors, debt holders, and those investing in Bulgarian assets and economic activity—we risk sending the opposite message,” Ganev said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Ganev believes that eurozone membership should be regarded as an opportunity, an additional mechanism to address corruption and the rule of law, although it alone cannot resolve Bulgaria’s chronic cycle of elections and political fragmentation and instability.
Local economists think that joining the euro will not bring dramatic changes to Bulgaria’s economy. That is because the lev has been pegged since 1999 to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 euro cents.
The lev and the euro will be in dual use for cash payments for the whole month of January, but people will receive only euros in change.
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Valentina Petrova in Sofia contributed to this report
A woman passes by a billboard displaying Eurozone information campaign in Sofia, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
The shadow of a person seen next to graffiti reading "No to the euro" altered to "Yes to the euro" in Sofia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A woman passes by a graffiti reading "No to the euro" altered to "Yes to the euro" in Sofia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
New Euro coins with Bulgarian symbols reflected in a table seen backdropped by Bulgarian and EU flag, Sofia, Tuesday Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A girl poses as she holds new euro coins with Bulgarian symbols in Sofia, Tuesday Dec. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A woman poses as she holds new euro coins with Bulgarian symbols in Sofia in front of Bulgarian National Bank, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
People wait in line to buy packages of new Euro coins with Bulgarian symbols at the doorstep of Bulgarian National Bank, in Sofia, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A woman poses as she holds new euro coins with Bulgarian symbols in Sofia in front of Bulgarian National Bank, Saturday Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
People stand at a currency exchange office with a poster reading "Did you exchange your levs for euros?" in Sofia, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
