xinhua net
English.news.cn 2010-11-18 06:07:08
ELGRADE, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- In a region of "dysfunctional states and badly governed democracies," the people of the Balkans are also losing their enthusiasm for European Union integration, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Gallup Balkan Monitor.
Released on Wednesday, the survey report, entitled "Insights and Perceptions: Voices of the Balkans," discloses a largely pessimistic population with little trust of domestic institutions and falling enthusiasm for the EU.
Although the majority of citizens of the region see the EU as the only option, support for joining the EU is generally on the decline.
In Serbia, the percentage of those who believe their country would benefit from EU membership went down from 50 to 44 percent, as against a high of 61 percent only four years earlier.
In Croatia, which is expected to join the EU in the coming year, the number of those opposed to membership has grown from 28 to 32 percent in one year, while 38 percent of those surveyed indicated they were indifferent to the EU integration process. Croatia has historically been divided into somewhat equal thirds of the population supporting, opposing and expressing indifferent views.
Despite the fact that overwhelming majorities from Macedonia and Albania continue to support EU integration, even this has dipped, from 76 percent four years ago to 60 percent for Macedonia and from a high of 88 to 81 percent in a single year for Albania.
In the midst of this downward trend, residents of Republika Srpska (the Serb-dominated entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina) indicated they were more optimistic toward EU membership, with the approval rating almost doubling from 31 percent three years ago to 59 percent in 2010. In Montenegro, support maintains an incremental growth, reaching 73 percent in 2010, as more citizens indicate they have a definite opinion on the topic.
In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the other BiH entity), support dipped slightly to 75 percent. This slight decline coupled with the dramatic increase in Republika Srpska gives the country an overall positive assessment of EU membership.
xinhua net
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