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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Reforms necessary for Serbian EU accession supported by 73% of citizens

Belgrade, 1 February 2016

The European Integration Office announced today that 48% of Serbian citizens support Serbia's membership in the European Union.

The result of the public opinion poll "Serbian citizens’ attitude towards the EU" conducted in the end of December by the European Integration Office is as follows:

If tomorrow a referendum was to be held posing the question "Do you support Serbia's membership in the EU?", 48% of Serbian citizens would vote for, 28% of them would vote against, 15% would not vote at all, while 9% does not know what to respond to this question.

The poll which surveyed over 1,027 respondents over 18 years of age was conducted according to Eurobarometer standard.

The citizens' support to reforms is very high, as it was in previous years. Of the total number of respondents, 73% think that the reforms necessary for the accession of our country into the EU should be implemented anyway, for the benefit of the citizens and for the purpose of creating a better system in Serbia.

The fight against corruption (20%) and the judicial reform (16%) are seen by as some of the most significant reforms that affect their daily lives to the largest extent, and the next in importance is the reform of the education system, with 15%, as well as the reforms of the health system (13%). These are followed by better protection of human rights (7%), agriculture (7%) and consumer protection (5%).

The largest percentage of the population, or 65%, considers that the problems between Belgrade and Pristina should be addressed regardless of whether it is required by the EU, that is, two-thirds of the respondents support the commitment of the government of Serbia to continue the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and its willingness to come to sustainable solutions through the dialogue.

Thirty% of respondents said that the EU membership would be a good thing in their opinion, while 29 of citizens considered it to be a bad thing and 41% were indifferent towards this issue.

However, for the majority of the citizens interviewed or for 18% of them, Serbian EU membership was still the possibility to arrange general state in our country, while for 16% of them it represents more opportunities for employment, road towards the better future for the young people (15%), as well as an opportunity for freer movement within the EU borders (12%).

As regards the development assistance (grants) to Serbia since 2000 to date, 27% of the respondents has recognised that the EU has been the largest aid donor to our country in the last 15 years, 20 per cent believes that it is Russia, 15% of the population opted for Japan, while China is in the fourth place with 14%.

The official data show that in the period from 2000 to 2014, the European Union and its Member States are the biggest assistance donors with around €2.6 billion in donations, thus contributing significantly to the development of Serbia.

Since 2002, the European Integration Office has regularly been conducting the public opinion surveys in order to perceive the assessment of the citizens in terms of their interests in the process of the EU accession and the way they see the future they expect for themselves and for their families.