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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Results of poll on Serbian citizens’ attitude to EU integration presented

Belgrade, 31 July 2007

Director of the EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic presented today the results of a public opinion poll on Serbian citizens’ attitude towards Serbia’s EU integration process, according to which 69.3% of citizens endorse the country’s EU accession process.

Tanja Miscevic at today's press conference

At a press conference, Miscevic said that the results lead to the conclusion that a year’s delay in the talks has not negatively affected citizens’ attitude towards EU integrations.

According to the results, citizens’ interest in this process fell by 0.6% against the previous poll in September 2006 when 69.9% thought that Serbia should join the “European family.”

A total of 45% of participants in the poll think that the EU is imposing conditions on Serbia and requiring that it gives up on Kosovo-Metohija in order to become an EU member country, whereas 31% think that Kosovo-Metohija and the Euro Atlantic integrations are two allegedly separate processes, but believe that the province has emerged as a condition for joining the EU, said Miscevic.

The remaining 24% believe that EU integration and the resolution of the southern Serbian province’s status are completely separate processes, which is a result of clear messages primarily from the international community.

Asked what the EU represents for them personally, 54% of participants said they see the EU as the road to a better future for the young, and 45% of them believe it will bring more opportunities for employment, Miscevic said.

Speaking about fears related to the EU membership and enlargement, 52% of respondents believe that would be harmful for domestic agricultural producers, 47% worry that it could cost Serbia very much, 44% fear the loss of national culture and identity, and 43% are concerned that EU accession would diminish the use of the Serbian language.

According to Miscevic, the poll results shows that Serbian citizens are insufficiently informed about the accession process and conditions for EU membership and that their positive attitude is affected by their wishes and emotions rather than a demonstration of their knowledge, because only 30% of citizens are informed about the EU, 39% are not, while the remaining 31% are somewhere in between.

According to 49.1% of respondents, entry into the EU is difficult mostly because of the policy of attaching conditions and blackmail used by the EU towards Serbia, 20.1% believe that it is Serbia's failure to fulfil its international obligations, 13.9% believe that the problem is the inability of domestic politicians, 9.5% blame the mentality of the Serbian people and 7.4% blame it on the sweeping reforms that have to be implemented.