Support for EU plummets among Serbians

BELGRADE The support for the country's EU accession has dropped in Serbia to the lowest level recorded in the last decade as in now at 41 percent. The Belgrade-based daily Danas reported on Tuesday the results of the latest poll carried out in December 2012, commissioned by the Government Office for European Integration, that will be officially presented on January 31. Support for EU plummets among Serbians The poll shows that in the second half of 2012, the enthusiasm regarding EU integration dropped by as much as seven percent compared to June. President of the Forum for International Relations of the European Movement in Serbia Predrag Simic pointed out that this shows the country is in an absurd situation. “All parties in the parliament, except the Democratic Party of Serbia, support the country's European integration, while the citizens' support to the process dropped to 41 percent. This data shows that 59 percent of citizens do not believe that Serbia would access the EU in 10 or 15 years because nobody can guarantee this,” Simic said. According to him, the reasons for such weak support lie in the situation concerning Kosovo and the uncertain date for the start of EU membership negotiations. He added that the current situation could cause problems if Serbia does not get a date for the start of accession talks by the end of the year. “This could destroy the credibility of the ruling coalition which invested a lot of effort in the fulfilment of the EU requests and gone further in the process than the previous government. If Serbia does not get a date, it could bring about early elections that could cost Serbia an entire year in the integration process,” Simic said. The daily recalls that according to the previous poll carried out by the European Integration Office in mid-2012, 49 percent of citizens would vote in favour of EU accession while 25 percent would be against. First polls concerning the stand of Serbian citizens concerning European integration were carried out in September 2002, when 68 percent of citizens backed the accession while 13 percent were against. The strongest support for the country's EU accession was recorded in December 2003, when 72 percent of citizens backed the process while eight percent said they were against. (Beta/AP, file) Danas Tanjug

Support for EU plummets among Serbians

The poll shows that in the second half of 2012, the enthusiasm regarding EU integration dropped by as much as seven percent compared to June.

President of the Forum for International Relations of the European Movement in Serbia Predrag Simić pointed out that this shows the country is in an absurd situation.

“All parties in the parliament, except the Democratic Party of Serbia, support the country's European integration, while the citizens' support to the process dropped to 41 percent. This data shows that 59 percent of citizens do not believe that Serbia would access the EU in 10 or 15 years because nobody can guarantee this,” Simić said.

According to him, the reasons for such weak support lie in the situation concerning Kosovo and the uncertain date for the start of EU membership negotiations.

He added that the current situation could cause problems if Serbia does not get a date for the start of accession talks by the end of the year.

“This could destroy the credibility of the ruling coalition which invested a lot of effort in the fulfilment of the EU requests and gone further in the process than the previous government. If Serbia does not get a date, it could bring about early elections that could cost Serbia an entire year in the integration process,” Simić said.

The daily recalls that according to the previous poll carried out by the European Integration Office in mid-2012, 49 percent of citizens would vote in favour of EU accession while 25 percent would be against.

First polls concerning the stand of Serbian citizens concerning European integration were carried out in September 2002, when 68 percent of citizens backed the accession while 13 percent were against.

The strongest support for the country's EU accession was recorded in December 2003, when 72 percent of citizens backed the process while eight percent said they were against.