EU and Bulgaria agree to defer row over euro name

By Paul Taylor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union presidency and Bulgaria agreed in principle on Friday to enable the bloc to sign an accord on closer ties with Montenegro by postponing a dispute over the Bulgarian spelling of the euro currency.

Bulgaria had refused to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Montenegro next Monday unless the Bulgarian text called the currency "evro", the name long used by Bulgarians, who pronounce Europe "Evropa".

But after day-long negotiations with EU president Portugal, Bulgarian spokeswoman Betina Joteva said: "There will be a signature on Monday."

A Portuguese presidency spokesman confirmed: "The EU-Montenegro SAA signature .... on Monday in Luxembourg is maintained." He declined to make any other comment.

Diplomats said Portugal had placated Sofia by drafting an EU declaration recognising the existence of a "linguistic-technical problem" of transliterating the euro into the Cyrillic alphabet and pledging to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The use of the letters EUR in the Bulgarian text of the accord with Montenegro, the most recent former Yugoslav republic to declare independence, would not set a legal precedent, the draft declaration said.

EU ambassadors would meet on Monday morning to approve the text and clear the way for signing the SAA with Montenegro.

The European Central Bank has opposed allowing different names for the euro in different languages. Several countries, including Italy, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovenia, have made linguistic accommodations to comply with its requirements.