Poll: 61% support EU entry

BELGRADE -- Were a referendum held tomorrow, 61 pct of Serbians would vote in favor of EU entry, according to a Strategic Marketing opinion poll.

Agency Director Srđan Bogosavljević says that 48 percent of respondents identified unemployment as Serbia’s biggest problem, followed by the low standard of living. Kosovo ranked fifth when it came to Serbian citizens’ worries.

According to Bogosavljević, the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić and his extradition to the Hague Tribunal has not affected party rating. He said that as many as 63 percent of respondents did not know what Karadžić and Ratko Mladić were accused of by the Hague.

The opinion poll showed that President Boris Tadić and his Democratic Party enjoyed the greatest popularity.

If elections were held this week with the same electoral lists as at the last elections, the For a European Serbia coalition would win 41 percent of the vote.

They are followed by the Serb Radical Party with 32 percent, the Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia with 13 percent, and the Liberal Democratic Party with seven percent. According to the poll, it is doubtful whether the Socialists would pass the census, with their support falling to four percent.