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Serbia’s EU integration supported by 51% of citizens
Belgrade,
13 January 2012
Director of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Milica Delevic said today that the support of citizens of Serbia to joining the EU dropped to 51% in December last year, compared to the June survey when it stood at 53% of respondents.
Speaking at a press conference at which she presented the results of the survey on citizens’ opinions on the EU, Delevic noted that after the initial negative reaction due to developments in the European integration process, citizens still rationally assess national interests.
She pointed out that the research was done on 22 December 2011, following the decision of the European Council not to grant our country the candidate status for EU membership.
According to her, if a referendum were called tomorrow with the question: "Do you support Serbia's EU membership?", 51% of citizens would say "yes", 28% would say "no", 18% would not vote, while 3% do not know how would they declare themselves.
Delevic explained that those who would vote against are more clearly differentiated and specified that 23% of citizens believe that the EU will not bring anything good to Serbia and that the state would benefit more from this membership than themselves.
She underlined that 53% of respondents believe that it is the fault of the state leadership that Serbia did not obtain candidate status, 32% believe that the cause was a bad situation within the EU, while only 5% think that Kosovo-Metohija is the problem.
When asked what the biggest condition set to our country is, 70% of respondents said Kosovo-Metohija, she added. The Director of the EU Integration Office noted that the number of those who would be against Serbia’s entry into the EU at a potential referendum increased from 24% in June to 28% in December.
From 2010 to 2011 the support dropped by 6 %, since 57% of citizens were in favour of Serbia's EU accession in December 2010, Delevic explained.
The current rate of support of citizens to joining the EU is at its lowest since 2002, which is when this research started.
The support for Serbia's EU accession was generally above 60%, and it was at its highest in December 2003 when 72% of citizens endorsed it, Delevic said and noted that the decline started in December 2010.
The research on citizens’ opinions on the EU has been conducted since September 2002 every six months - in June and December.
She pointed out that the research was done on 22 December 2011, following the decision of the European Council not to grant our country the candidate status for EU membership.
According to her, if a referendum were called tomorrow with the question: "Do you support Serbia's EU membership?", 51% of citizens would say "yes", 28% would say "no", 18% would not vote, while 3% do not know how would they declare themselves.
Delevic explained that those who would vote against are more clearly differentiated and specified that 23% of citizens believe that the EU will not bring anything good to Serbia and that the state would benefit more from this membership than themselves.
She underlined that 53% of respondents believe that it is the fault of the state leadership that Serbia did not obtain candidate status, 32% believe that the cause was a bad situation within the EU, while only 5% think that Kosovo-Metohija is the problem.
When asked what the biggest condition set to our country is, 70% of respondents said Kosovo-Metohija, she added. The Director of the EU Integration Office noted that the number of those who would be against Serbia’s entry into the EU at a potential referendum increased from 24% in June to 28% in December.
From 2010 to 2011 the support dropped by 6 %, since 57% of citizens were in favour of Serbia's EU accession in December 2010, Delevic explained.
The current rate of support of citizens to joining the EU is at its lowest since 2002, which is when this research started.
The support for Serbia's EU accession was generally above 60%, and it was at its highest in December 2003 when 72% of citizens endorsed it, Delevic said and noted that the decline started in December 2010.
The research on citizens’ opinions on the EU has been conducted since September 2002 every six months - in June and December.
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