As Bulgaria prepares to welcome the euro on January 1, 2026, we look back at a year that saw our readers grapple with questions of identity, security, economic transformation, and Bulgaria's place in an increasingly volatile Europe. From breaking news that stopped the internet to profound reflections on history and democracy, 2025 was a year when the personal became political, and the global felt unmistakably local. Here are Novinite.com’s most-read articles from the past year:

When the Digital World Went Dark

Google Down in Eastern Europe

On September 4, millions across Eastern Europe experienced something increasingly rare in our hyperconnected age: digital silence. Google services, from search to Gmail, Maps to YouTube, went dark across Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and much of the Black Sea region. The outage, which lasted several hours, wasn't just an inconvenience; it exposed how dependent modern societies have become on digital infrastructure.

Initially, speculation ran wild. Was it a Russian cyberattack? The timing and geography seemed suspicious, hitting countries Moscow considers "unfriendly" for their support of Ukraine. Yet as technical analysis emerged, a more mundane reality took shape: infrastructure failure rather than foreign sabotage. Still, the incident sparked critical conversations about digital resilience and the vulnerability of systems we take for granted every day.

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Google Down in Eastern Europe (UPDATED)

Google Goes Dark Across Eastern Europe - Did Russia Do It?Author: Ivan Kolev

The Euro Countdown: Hope, Fear, and Economic Reality

Bulgaria's Journey to the Eurozone

As the calendar turned toward 2026, one topic dominated Bulgarian discourse: the euro. With just days until adoption, readers sought clarity on what the currency change would mean for their daily lives. The question of how a 2,000 leva gross salary would convert to 1,022.59 euros captured the anxiety and anticipation of a nation on the cusp of its most significant economic transformation since the currency board was established in 1997.

The debate wasn't merely technical. It became a proxy for deeper questions about sovereignty, prosperity, and Bulgaria's European future. Would prices surge? Would workers lose purchasing power? Our comprehensive analysis of what would cost more, less, or stay the same revealed a complex picture: public transport fares falling due to rounding, taxi prices jumping nearly 20%, and technology costs facing global supply chain pressures that had nothing to do with currency change.